For the first time ever, PBS’s American Experience will be launching a new documentary through the social networking platform Facebook. The move is an innovative attempt to engage a new audience and solicit feedback from viewers in a way that television does not normally allow.

“It’s such a distancing medium that we work in, in television,” said American Experience executive producer Mark Samels. “You put all this work into something, and then it goes into this black hole, the ether.”

Earth Days is a 102 minute film about the origins of the American environmental movement. The documentary, directed by Robert Stone, has been on a film festival and 40-city theatrical tour for the last year, and will soon be having its television broadcast premiere.

April 11, 2010 will mark the first time a major broadcaster has introduced a full-length documentary on the social networking site. A new social screening application created by Brand Networks will feature a “customized video player, integrated with a proprietary poll system and Facebook’s comment box,” according to Brand Networks founder Jamie Tedford.

With no limitations on how many people can participate, PBS is hoping that fans will post questions and interact with the filmmaker and producer in real-time. Fans will also be able to restrict their comments to others who are watching the presentation or make them visible in their news feeds.

The program draws and average of 4 million viewers an episode on television, so there is no telling how many will be logging in to view the social version, however since promotion began on March 3 more than 2000 people have invited friends to join the event.