Uganda, Oct. 7 -- This week, Twitter has had an "earthquake" of sorts, at least in the East African countries of Kenya and Uganda.

Not only was a "war" declared on Kenya with a "threat" to reach Nairobi in two weeks, the flurry of diplomatic activities that followed - offline and online - resulted in a realignment within Uganda's military. I won't delve into that.

The question we ask then is how powerful Twitter or social media for that matter is in the news they deliver? How much does the public trust it? Did Kenyans trust "news" that war was at their doorstep? Or did Uganda trust "news" that war against Kenya was imminent?

Trust is a very important factor in influencing responses to news, to events as reported, and to the platforms t...