Martin Luther the Social Networker?  

Justin RuddyDecember 22, 2011 

Over at The Economist, an article entitled "How Luther Went Viral" suggests that the phenomena of social media may not be all that new. In fact, the writer claims that the Protestant Reformation is a prime example of a pre-modern movement using technology and social networks to accomplish its end. Much of the article attempts to draw parallels between the Reformation and the Arab Spring, pushing the reader to think about the nature of movements, protest, relationships, technology, etc. Here's the concluding paragraph of the article: 

Modern society tends to regard itself as somehow better than previous ones, and technological advance reinforces that sense of superiority. But history teaches us that there is nothing new under the sun. Robert Darnton, an historian at Harvard University, who has studied information-sharing networks in pre-revolutionary France, argues that “the marvels of communication technology in the present have produced a false consciousness about the past—even a sense that communication has no history, or had nothing of importance to consider before the days of television and the internet.” Social media are not unprecedented: rather, they are the continuation of a long tradition. Modern digital networks may be able to do it more quickly, but even 500 years ago the sharing of media could play a supporting role in precipitating a revolution. Today’s social-media systems do not just connect us to each other: they also link us to the past.

You can read the whole thing here.

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