The Balloon (Boy) Effect

If you are involved in social media on a basic level (e.g. you belong only to Facebook) or a very advanced level (e.g. you’re on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Virb, MySpace…), you likely followed the story yesterday about Falcon Heene, a 6-year-old boy in Fort Collins, CO, who was believed to have flown away in his father’s giant mylar balloon. You likely saw the jokes about a boy in a balloon, followed by the horrified messages in response to the thought that Falcon may have fallen out of the balloon, and finally, the messages of relief (and sarcasm) when it turned out Falcon was in his family’s attic the whole time. I’ve labeled this the “balloon effect” - and remember, a balloon can only hold so much air before it blows up in your face.

Since then, I’m sure you have seen the mixed responses to the situation, labeling the instance as a hoax, a publicity stunt, and the family as media-grubbing. I’m not stating my views on here, but I am glad that Falcon turned out to be unharmed.

My point is, from this one isolated event, the social media world exploded. Things were hypothesized, pre-supposed, and conjectured long before CNN or MSNBC broke the end of the story. A “friend” of mine on Facebook conjectured that it was a media stunt before the balloon even landed. Regardless of what actually happened or whether or not it was an accident, the entire social media cyberworld was consumed for over two hours with the fate of this balloon and the boy who was thought to be inside.

What does this say about our society? I think it is a great thing, because we all have forums where we can discuss world events, share our opinions, and get literally up to the second updates (think back to June - did you learn about Michael Jackson’s death from the TV…or from Twitter?). However, I think it can be somewhat harmful. We need to remember not to believe everything we read or hear. Do not take everything at face value. I think social media is great for spreading news, events, products, and more. But just like email, TV, and other media outlets, social media is an unfiltered medium. Do you believe everything you see on late night infomercials?

Again, I encourage everyone to embrace social media. But please, proceed with caution.

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