Google has announced that it is launching a new search tool for social media outlets like blogs, Twitter and Facebook.

Google Social Search allows people to search for postings by their friends, coworkers and selected media source feeds as well as traditional organic searches on it's search engine.

Google's Social Search was demonstrated at the Web 2.0 Summit by Google’s VP of Search Marissa Mayer. It combines results from blogs,Twitter, Facebook, and a variety of other social media sites. The only catch is that individuals must have connected their social accounts to their Google profiles.

The social search feature will display relevant search results from your social circle at the bottom of the search results page. This could be a recent blog post, a set of status updates, or other information Google is able to acquire.

Right now, Google's Social Search is an opt-in. It only affects certain searches and will appear at the bottom of the search results page. The feature may eventually be moved towards the top or middle portions of the search results page.

All the web was a twitter and so were the cable news networks over the "Balloon Boy" saga which unfolded on October 15th. News spread rapidly through social networks and various news outlets describing the drama of a six year old boy soaring over the Colorado landscape in a weather balloon. The bazaar nature of the story captivated people's attention. Curiosity turned to concern as information spread that a small child may have climbed into the balloon. The drama continued for two or more hours before the balloon touched down in a farm field to reveal there was no little boy inside. A universal sigh of relief was heard once the boy was found at his home hiding, fearing he was in a lot of trouble for playing and releasing the homemade weather balloon.

Rumors began to emerge that the boy and his family were on a reality television show at one time and that the entire story was a hoax. These rumors continued as law enforcement began to investigate the matter and by noon on October 18th, it was officially determined by the local sheriff's department that the saga of "Balloon Boy" was indeed a hoax. The investigation led authorities to discover that the family had hoped the incident would spawn a reality television show for them.

Now the parents of the young boy will face charges and authorities are worried about the safety and well being of the youngest boy named Falcon and his two brothers. What was their family environment like? What were they exposed to and what were they told?

As of this writing, these are still questions left unanswered. One question needs to be asked though. Are reality television shows creating self-centered individuals believing every corner of there lives is important enough to be documented and broadcast to the masses? The popularity of social media in general, is also contributing to wide spread narcism. Have all these outlets led to the staging of more"Balloon Boys"?

As with anything in life, moderation is key. Whether it is watching a television program or posting portions of your life on a website. Let us hope that this bazaar episode is not a tale of things to come. Let us also hope that it is not a representation of a larger existing problem among society.

We are pleased to have been chosen to create the official site for the independent movie "This Is Not The South".

The movie focuses on the character "Ryan," who sets out to create a film about General Morgan's Civil War raid. But at some point he loses control, and it morphs into a film about three young friends in the Bristol Tennesse area struggling to overcome preconceptions.

The film was written and directed by Derek Davidson and produced by Karen Sabo.

Davidson is an established playwright and director. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Florida State University, a master's from Miami University in Ohio and a doctorate in theatre history from the University of Washington.

Sabo has been a professional actor and was a resident director at Barter Theatre. She has a bachelor's degree from Hampshire College and attended graduate school at East Tennessee State University.