0202-Reba still has a pulse

Reba McEntire is alive and well and living in Australia. She didn't fall to her death filming a movie there but that doesn't stop a new trend from stopping her clock. It seems people have developed an unusual penchant for declaring superstars dead via Twitter and other online venues, proving the age old adage that people, in general, are fascinated with death. Just last week Cher was declared dead via Twitter, fooling even Kim Kardashian and millions of her followers. Part of the problem is that Twitter allows users to sign up and post anonymously, pretty much giving them a hall pass from social responsibility. This trend is also heavily evident on thousands of local news web sites where readers comment on breaking news and say some of the cruelest things under the cloak of anonymity. When people are required to be themselves, to reveal their true identities before publishing statements online, they tend to be more careful what they write. Of course that is not always the case but it is the general rule. It will be interesting to see how Twitter handles a possible larger problem of this nature as it continues to become one of the top three destinations on the web, posing even a little thre

at to insurmountable Facebook.  (Image: Michael Buckner, GettyImages.com)