WABC Causes Facebook Scare Over Reported Plane Malfunction

By Andrew Gauthier 

WABC provided a lesson on how not to use social media on Sunday evening, as the ABC flagship began asking viewers on its Facebook page if they knew anyone on a Ft. Myers to JFK JetBlue flight, while providing few details on what was actually happening.

With the news of a hole ripped open in a Southwest jet still fresh on people’s minds, alarmed viewers posted questions on WABC’s Facebook wall as the station worked to quell the fear that its misguided attempts at news gathering had caused.

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After several questions from viewers, someone from WABC commented “Everyone is safe,” but that only raised more questions:

The WABC poster finally explained in more detail, but that just got the commenters going even more…

The Facebook Wall posting was removed last night, but an eagle-eyed TVSpy reader captured these screengrabs from an iPhone. The story wasn’t news after all, and didn’t even merit a mention on the station’s 11pm newscast.

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