Does the lure of social media goad us into taking unnecessary risks? Anyone who saw the video of Russian model Viki Odintcova dangling off the Cayan Tower in Dubai will surely say yes. But sometimes the action is much less dangerous, although the consequences are no less dramatic.
That appears to be what happened to Brian Cullinan, a previously unknown managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accountancy firm that handles the names of the winners. Moments before handing the wrong envelope to Warren Beatty, Mr Cullinan tweeted a photo of actress Emma Stone with her award after she accepted her Oscar. The internet, therefore, has linked the two.
Was Mr Cullinan so distracted by Ms Stone, or by the need to show the world who was in front of him, that he mixed up the envelopes? We often hear not to text and drive because of its dire consequences. But it seems the distraction of social media is so great it can even affect the opening of an envelope.
