JFK and Cell Phones

Forgive me for showing my age, but the more I learn about the power of cell and smart phones, video sharing, Web 2.0, Twitter, Facebook and the like, I've been pondering a "what if," that might have changed the last 48 years of history. Thinking about the speed that news travels the globe and ever-growing army of citizen journalists, think what the assasination of President John Kennedy might have been if all the social media we have today was available then.

For me, that day in November has been forever etched in my brain. After all, Mrs. Grace, my 7th grade English teacher charged me to go to the principal's office to see what was being said on the only television in my school and report back to my classmates. As a result, I remember every detail.

Sadly for many of us, we had to wait to see Walter Cronkite or Chet Huntly and David Brinkley spell out the details of that awful day. I shall never forget seeing Mr. Cronkite remove his black rimmed glasses and sadly report that our president had died while trying to ignore the monsterous lump in his throut. News that day and the ones that followed chronicled the funeral of our president as fast as possible given the state of broadcasting technology. After all, most people only had black and white televisions with only four channels.

But what if the spectators along the President's Dallas parade route had the tools we have today? Every second would have be captured--from every angle and every perspective--even from the "grassy knoll." Conspiracy theorists would have thousands and thousands of video and images to review to arrive at a definitive answer if "he acted alone." Images of the tragedy would have been flashed around the world on Twitter within seconds much like the first image of the USAirways flight landing in the Hudson River. The course of history might have completely changed. So if you've got any ideas of how social media might have altered the historical recording of that day add a comment below.