questionmark Posted January 1, 2014 #1 Share Posted January 1, 2014 LONG before Facebook or Twitter, there was a different kind of social network. Born in the Old West, it allowed communities to share updates and music, and to spread news and gossip. For a brief period at the start of the 20th century this network, owned by no one, was a model of democracy, openness and free speech – something that today's internet activists can only dream about. Eventually, though, it faded, overwhelmed by commercially minded competitors. This is the story of a long-forgotten social revolution and the extremely unlikely technology it was built on: barbed wire Read more 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keel M. Posted January 2, 2014 #2 Share Posted January 2, 2014 To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content. Hmph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
questionmark Posted January 2, 2014 Author #3 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Hmph. Sorry,as I have a subscription I can never tell which articles are closed to public view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggs Posted January 2, 2014 #4 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Here's a similar article on Barbed wire telephones. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now