How social networking could have changed Civil Rights

TED Talk lecturer Clay Shirkey made some very good points about technological innovation. Social Networking connects people like no other invention in the history of the world. Now that it exists, it already impacts alters the way news breaks everyday. Imagine how it could have changed history if it was invented instead of the television.

When I think about social networking in the historical sense, I think of social movements. People are able to connect and organize without any fear of repercussion from the government or anyone else. That is why I wish social networking would have been around when segregation was present in the South . Civil rights violations boiled over and became a movement in the 1950s-1960's, but everything was organized by telephone and by meeting in local churches. Twitter and other social networks like MySpace could have connected people being treated unfairly and wanted to come together and protest social injustice.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott could have been seamlessly organized by connecting people trying to solve a common problem. Facebook could have been used to create a group for other activists to join. They would then use social connections to set up rides for people who have to get to work without using the bus system. Restaurant boycotts could be coordinated to make sure everyone is concentrating on the same goal. They could also communicate on how effective their protests have been in their area. Instead of people being afraid of being the first to come out of their homes to organize and march, everyone would know how many others are part of the movement. It could all happen without anyone leaving their homes.

As a historian, I can't assume that things would work out so easily. On the other side, Americans could have used social networking to connect with others from the status quo, using it to find others who share in the idea of preventing civil rights for all Americans. Conflicts could have been worse because Southerners would have been able to easily find out the time and place of major protests, and therefore been more organized themselves.

I would like to think that African-Americans could have used social networking to organize an effective non-violent protest, but would there have been an equal or not greater resistance using the same technology? How do you think it would have been resolved?

~MjG