ABSTRACT

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) created a Great Red Balloon Hunt Contest to study how information spread virally through the Internet. The contest was designed to “explore the roles the Internet and social networking play in the timely communication, wide-area team-building and urgent mobilization required to solve broad-scope, time-critical problems.” Ten red balloons were launched from readily accessible locations visible from nearby roads. DARPA ensured that no one person could observe all of the balloons that were spread across the country.