It was one of those days when through varied implied and implicit connections I managed to have conversations I had a seven in the morning ring true by four in the afternoon–without having any knowledge that one would lead to the other. It’s a true Maxwell Smart, “Would you believe?” moment.
In the morning I was talking to a commuting buddy of mine about how blogs and social network can drive the news cycle. The example we were discussing was the issue reported in the iPhone 4 device. Here’s a good write through on that if you need the background.
The upshot of the discussion though was how a few bloggers can grab hold of something–and drive via Twitter, Facebook and comments a story until the “main stream” media picks up on it.
So today–what would happen if the BP capping of the well spewing oil in the Gulf was staged.
Step away for a moment. How easy would it be for them to design a set similar to the one we’ve seen for more than 80 days from the bottom of the Gulf of oil spewing. But this time–with no oil and this cap in place? Switch the video source–and what do you know, it’s a capped well, right?
A few conspiracy theorists blog about this. Spread it via Twitter. A few Facebook shares–and you have a rumor ready to rumble along.
The final connection to all of this was an email today that CBS News was going to support the News Literacy Project. One of the goals of this project is to help primarily students differentiate fact and fiction in this connected world.
Play it out–in Dallas in November of 1963. Imagine a wired world, with instant mobile images and video. Twitter to share the news far and wide and the second gunman theory? What would that look like today?
Would you believe we have the power to make things happen–to make people listen. I guess it’s equally important to have something to say.
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