A graphic device often seen in comic books, a balloon is a box, circle, or cloudlike shape that contains the words or thoughts of a character. These balloons come in many shapes. Typically an extended or pointed portion of the balloon or a straight line points to the character speaking. Cloud-shaped balloons often indicate what a character is thinking rather than what is being spoken.
Balloons can also be used as decorative elements enclosing call-outs or captions on photos and other illustrations. When used alone, the character speaking is presumed to be the author or the organization using the balloon.
A speech balloon is also seen in many logos, such as Angies List and Technorati. It typically denotes any type of site where there's a lot of talking going on — forums, social networking sites, blogs, user reviews, etc.
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