This thread is worrying and it shows the gap between pros and the public. I work in IT and it dawned on me one day that our users didn't really understand what we all took for granted.
This thread is the same. Passengers don't know what the Pros know. They don't know whether to tug or not, they certainly don't know if the bag inflates or note (and there seems to bea lack ofclarity on this). They are insulted and told that if they had listened to the 3min safety briefing they'd have been alright.
If a 3min safety briefing is enough to teach you how to put on a life jacket, use emergency oxygen and open emergency doors then why do cabin crew have to spend sooo much longer learning that ?
People were worried, it's natural, they weren't trained for it. The media reported their fears. An ideal response (to the media reports) would be to detail what happened and also mention that it's usual to have a smell and additional heat when the oxygen candles start to work; that yes the masks are covered in talc so that they don't stick etc.
It's unfair and ignorant to be so brutally critical towards passengers who were shocked and who didn't know what to expect.