over things we can't know, and to people becoming internet vigilantes

I found it funny that 4chan and Reddit were sure that their internet-CSI divisions had found the bombers in pictures before the feds/cops did. Numerous people were even patting themselves on the back like they had already cracked the case at that point! Turns out, out of the like 5-8 different people they thought were suspicious and had circled and posted all over the internet, NONE of the people they pointed out were the actual suspects. They were flat out wrong, and many of those people had their lives turned upside down when other shitty news sites started posting reddit/4chans speculation of who the suspects were. It was shitty of them. But the moment CNN says ONE thing wrong "HURRRRR THE MASS MEDIA IS SO DUMB WE'RE BETTER AT SPREADING INFO!" The whole community is filled with hypocrites.

I hate all those twerps who want to play arm-chair detective. It's fine doing it in the comfort of their own home, but when they are posting the pictures of people they think did it all over the internet and in every thread about it, it's just careless, and makes them no better than the media when they make mistakes, because they always make MORE mistakes than any media network I've ever come across. Sure they have an up to date timeline of events in situations like this, but like you're saying, it's just a timeline of mostly rumor and unconfirmed reports that they get from scanners, or other commenters. It's all fun and games until they start accusing some high schooler of being a terrorist who set off the bombs.

The reason I don't go to that community rarely anymore is because it's filled with people like that. Lazy geniuses who think they are doing the professionals jobs for them and so proud of it... yet all they do is just type what they hear, no matter where they hear it, and update their timeline filled with rumor and hearsay, and of course the occassional fact. Whereas if I watch the news or read actual news sites, at least I get mostly facts, and not the other way around.

Reddit/4chan disgust me in situations like this. They've done nothing but pinpoint, out, and harass a bunch of innocent people and pat themselves on the back while doing it. And when proven wrong, no apologies, no "we were wrong", no "oops", just onto the next speculation... and throughout the entire process, still thinking they are better and more informed than everyone else...