#napaquake hijacking shows flaws in social media as our town center in crisis

[Commentary] A look at "#napaquake" and some of the other most-used Twitter hashtags related to the Napa quake turned up images of dead U.S. soldiers and slogans in support of a militant Islamic group. So what does the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have to do with an earthquake in Northern California? Nothing, of course. But digital propagandists grab any social media hashtag that is a trending topic and use it in a crass bid for attention. This is the ugly side of social media. Its openness and unfiltered nature, which makes it so useful and appealing, also means that some bad actors gum up the works for their own ends.