Balloon Boy: When the Net is full of hot air

You may not have noticed, but several important things happened in the country late last week. I don't know what they were either, because I was too busy following the Balloon Boy saga.

This is the latest example of how 24/7 cable news networks and the Web can conspire to create a laserlike focus on one thing, regardless of its actual importance. And the problem only seems to be getting worse.

[ Check out Eric Knorr's take on the celebrity keyword-fest and the problem with Web publishing, in InfoWorld's Modernizing IT blog. ]

How obsessed were people with Balloon Boy? At one point last Thursday, 18 of the top 20 search terms on Google Trends had something to do with the Heene family and/or runaway helium balloons. Within hours someone had created a snarky (though minimalist) Web site called WhereIsBalloonBoy?, which has now clocked more than 28,000 hits. As I write this, some three days later, "balloon boy" is still a trending topic on Twitter.

A Cringester who works in an international finance firm shared the following online chat session from last Thursday. Though he was not a participant -- he says it was a coworker -- he swears it's completely accurate (however, I did obscure the real name of his colleague to protect his privacy, and I cleaned up some typos).

15:21:09 BLOOMBERG HELP DESK : hello

15:21:51 BLOOMBERG HELP DESK : how can I assist?

15:22:03 JOE USER : any ideas on how we can get this kid out of the hot air balloon over Colorado?

15:22:08 JOE USER : b/c i am totally consumed by this

15:22:22 JOE USER : and no one at my work is offering anything sensible

15:23:07 BLOOMBERG HELP DESK : I wish I knew of a simple solution

15:23:25 JOE USER : I mean is this helium going to slowly leak out?

15:23:36 JOE USER : or should we send the Seals in with some chutes?

15:24:01 JOE USER : and where are the parents in all this. I'm sorry to be venting. I just feel like I don't have anyone to talk to

15:24:38 BLOOMBERG HELP DESK : please talk to me about it

15:24:49 BLOOMBERG HELP DESK : I feel the pain.. I wonder that the kid is thinking up there

15:25:00 JOE USER : this issue is bigger than just kids in hot air balloons

15:25:12 JOE USER : its a lack of parenting in this country, its despicable

15:26:25 BLOOMBERG HELP DESK : I'm sure the parents will never leave the kid alone

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