We seem to have all gone bonkers. If some beings from another planet could see the Georgia swim & diving team doing the Harlem shake or a giant panda dancing Gangnam style, they would think we’re all nutty. But it cannot be that simple – for if millions of viewers are not only watching funny online videos but also actually recreating them in different contexts, there has to be some other, perhaps deeper, reason for these outrageous shenanigans.

CONSIDER this. My 80 year-old dad still walks to the local store to buy his paper where he bends the ear of the 'corner boys' about daily affairs. My dad's experience of news is social in nature. News reflects and refracts what he considers to be popular or important, informs his public discourse and is consumed and shared socially. Newspaper execs who understand the social value of news position their titles through targeted marketing and promotion. Alas, the same SA papers miss the plot when it comes to social marketing online.