Social media - The red ballon project

Government awards $40k for social media sharing

Some might call it a complex viral contest. The government is calling it a research opportunity.

In a quest to learn more about how people use computers in a social context, Darpa, the Pentagon's research agency, will award $40,000 to the first person or team to determine the location of 10 red balloons that are scattered across the continental U.S., The New York Times reports.

Darpa is responsible for protecting the country from technological surprises. The goal of the experiment is to see how teams will use the internet to gather and share information for reaching the goal.

It boils down to what is possibly the most intricate study of online word-of-mouth sharing. The 10 balloons will be visible from major roadways from one day, and officials associated with the project are expecting everything from custom built software applications to the dissemination of false information.

Other nefarious online practices are expected as well; in a brief experiment the agency conducted earlier, information on the balloon's location was for sale on Craigslist.