AUSTIN - If there seems to be one overriding theme I'm picking up on at South by Southwest Interactive, it's the idea that technology and the sheer untapped potential of the new frontier that is the Internet can solve some of society's biggest problems.

So what about racism?

"There is no end racism app(lication). If so we would have ended this a long time ago," said Latoya Peterson, the editrix of Raciallicious.com.

That drew a big laugh from the crowd at the curiously titled"Can Social Media End Racism discussion.

When Peterson put the question forward to the other panelists, there wasn't much disagreement.

"Trying to counteract racism is like brushing your teeth," said Jay Smooth, host of Illdoctrine.com. "There's never going to be a point when you're going to be completely finished with it."

So what exactly can social networks and new media do?
Well for one they can inspire people to action...and criticism, said Phil Yu, editor of AngryAsianMan.com.

Yu, whose blog crosses between media criticism, pop culture commentary and news, said he has tried to use his voice to not just call out racism, but make people realize that it's a persistent problem.

But in the broader context, Peterson said blogs and social networks can incite the gradual change necessary to combat racism by spreading knowledge, creating safe spaces for people to have open discussions and build a community to take action.

Kety Esquivel, new media manager for the National Council of La Raza and co-founder of Sanctuary.org, said blogs like hers, or Racialicious and Ill Doctrine, have a unique community that has developed around shared ideas and thoughtful discussion. It's the difference between having a conversation where you have to bring people up to speed and where everyone knows the context, she said.

So how do these communities make a difference? Smooth and Yu pointed to an incident in 2005 after New York hip-hop radio station Hot 97 played a song mocking the Tsunami that hit Indonesia.

Within hours after the song was played it was making the rounds on blogs, eventually reaching IllDoctrine.com and AngryAsianman.com. The communities connected with those blogs were able to bring pressure not only on Hot 97 but also lawmakers and advertisers, Smooth said.

But Smooth said the next step will be for these social networks to take action and make change outside of big news events, and leveraging the power they have as communities to make real change.

It's not enough to just be "friends" online, you have to use that for something.

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