When was the last time you were asked to join a Facebook group entitled “One Million Strong For [Insert random cause].” Probably quite recently. At the Sxsw panel “How Social Networks Are Killing the Revolution,” panelists discussed how social networks are actually hindering real world action and change from occurring. Steve Swedler (Gangplank) attempted to answer the question why support for a cause in an online community fails to translate into large scale change.

One reason he presented is that people are under the false notion that noise=action. Swedler went on to say that in many social network communities, “Everyone assumes someone’s doing something. Someone can be the most avid supporter of a cause but be doing absolutely nothing about it.” Todd Huffman (BIL Conference) explained that for this to change people need to ask themselves, “How do I direct this support into a specific action that will make the world a better place?” Swedler summarized the lesson to be taken from this panel best saying, “Social networks are the means to an end, they are only a tool and they are only as powerful as the people using them.”