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May 1, 2009
Overhyping vs. Underhyping. You Choose.
Watching CNBC yesterday, it was interesting to watch a segment called "Most OverHyped Stories". The three choices were:
- Chrysler Bankruptcy
- Swine Flu
- The Demise of Newspapers
Eveyone agreed that Swine Flu was ridiculously overhyped. Of course, there is plenty of time for this virus to mutate and wreak havoc on the globe. But given that almost 10,000 people die each year due to standard winter flu, the relatively benign swine flu seems to be garnering an inordinate amount of press.
Welcome to the new world of reporting. As we saw with Twitter Mom's, a seemingly small slight can result in a significant backlash. That same phenomenon can take a relatively minor news story and elevate its rank ...(excuse me)....virally.
In itself, that is not necessarily bad, except that in the case of something like swine flu, it could affect the misallocation of resources across the globe or the unjustified actions/reactions of millions of people. Overhyping is as much of a risk in the information age as is underhyping. And fear mongering is not always a desired action (ask Joe Biden).
For my money, the wild spread of swine flu stories reflects both the promise and the challenge of our new social media powered era. LIke the story of the little boy who cried wolf...after you are hit with too many "swine flu pandemics" will you become lax when the real pandemic arrives?
Posted by jcioban at May 1, 2009 7:30 PM
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