The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released its 2013 China New Media Development Report Tuesday. In the report, one chapter compiled by the public opinion inspection office of the People's Daily reviewed 100 cases from January 2012 to January 2013 that had been hotly discussed on Weibo, China's most popular social media platform. It found out that during the online spread of news about the 100 cases, rumors were involved in a third of cases.

This is distressing enough in the era of Weibo, which provides one of the most dynamic platforms for online interaction in China. But to make things worse, the point was caught by a local Beijing evening newspaper, whose front page story of that day was entitled "One third of Weibo hot topics are rumors."

Clearly, the local newspaper's interpretation of the survey on rumors turned into a real rumor and overshadowed the point the survey truly intended to make.

New media, especially Weibo, has become the fastest source of news. It is gradually dominating the way information spreads. Meanwhile, the agenda setting on Weibo and sentiments expressed on it have played a more influential role. Chinese netizens embrace its role as an anti-graft force. Cases involving officials' abuse of power, violations on laws and disciplines and other ethical issues can easily become headlines in traditional media thanks to netizens' efforts.

As a variety of social problems emerge, a rational state of social sentiment does not exist any more, if it ever did, prompting irrational voices and even rumors both online and in the real world.

Sometimes, a rumor can be stopped on Weibo as long as the authorities clarify matters straight away. But as the public's demand for truth becomes more urgent than ever and authorities often fail to keep up with this pace, rumors can end up being widely circulated.

Indeed, rumors are a good selling point to hit the public nerve. They get irate and excited at the same time.

Traditional media outlets, if they just try to appeal to the public mood and publish thrilling headlines without verifying the truth behind the information, will not only spread rumors but also risk their own credibility.

As for new media like Weibo, despite its occasional drawbacks, it is still viewed as the best platform for the public to participate in various discussions of social topics. The development of Weibo itself is directed by the public's push for truth rather than for rumors. It will be encouraging if Weibo itself is not the target of untruths and rumors.