Personalised ringtones, chat rooms and online music – 19th-century ranchers pioneered social networking
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.
Getting connected could be a big problem in North America in the 1890s, especially in the vast open spaces of the rural west. You could buy a ...
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