A tiny blurb in the Daily Telegraph a few weeks ago confirmed that the urban myth ‘six degrees of separation’ is almost statistically spot on. Microsoft analysts determined that 6.6 relationships linked every person on this planet.

I am actually linked to more than 30 million people, but not through an individual, but an animal. His name is Christian. Have you met my lion friend?

I have watched the YouTube video about a dozen times and told at least twice that many people. Everyone I know has done the same. Everyone one I know has reacted the same. The collective experience of the YouTube community seems to heighten our emotional response.

I wonder if this is what Marshall McLuhan imagined when he proclaimed ‘the medium is the message’ way back in 1964?

Is our reaction so visceral because we are participating in a global groundswell? Would I have taken such possession of Christian if I could not have shared him with everyone in my office in an instant? Probably not.

If I had seen him on TV, I would have almost certainly forgotten about it by the next day. And a photo in a newspaper, may only rate a mention if I was sitting beside a friend at the time.

In any case, it has taken an animal set wild in our vast Internet neighbourhood to remind me that most of us enjoy sharing a bit of happy human emotion – at least with 6.6 people.

- Christine Gotz

September 3rd, 2008  |  by Christine Gotz Published in In the News, Online, Public Relations

The plight of baby humpback whale Colin, stranded in a Sydney waterway, captured the heart of the Australian public last week and generated a media frenzy - print, TV, radio, online, blogs and more. Within days you could even visit a special Colin website featuring musical youtube tributes, a petition to PM Kevin Rudd and (because we simply can’t escape commercialism) a range of Colin 08 merchandise.

The story split public opinion. Before long, lines were being drawn in the sand (or perhaps more fittingly, the sea). Were you a tie-dye wearing, bleeding heart hippie wanting to waste tax payers money on pointless rescue attempts? Or were you a greed-driven, cold-hearted cynic choosing economic rationalism over the survival of an innocent creature?

Regardless of my own personal ambivalence towards ‘poor Colin’, I found the saga fascinating. The more I read, the more I realised just how much a dash of subjectivity can change a story. Over the course of a week, Colin went from being (with all due respect) just a whale, to a symbol for pro-euthanasia, bureaucratic ineptitude, economic rationalism and even national pride.

Unfortunately despite everyone from politicians to animal rights groups to the Average Joe putting in their two cents, the passion of the people could not keep Colin alive.

But it sure did sell a lot of papers.

- Jacqui Flint

August 27th, 2008  |  by Jacqueline Flint Published in In the News