KEY POINTS:
Social networking has taken on a radical new edge after a Facebook campaign forced HSBC bank to reverse plans to cancel interest-free overdrafts to new graduates.
A raft of new protest zones have been rolled out on the site as grassroots social and political groups discover they have
a potent new weapon at their disposal.
No longer do eco-warriors have to rely solely on sit-ins and protests. Anti-poverty campaigners now have a platform that allows them to constantly update their message. And local activists can tackle issues such as supermarket expansion plans without leaving their living rooms. Today's revolts are mounted from the mousepad.
Recent groups established on Facebook have shown that users are keen to flex their political muscle.
HSBC this week announced it was "not too big to listen to the needs of customers", when thousands of Facebookers signed up daily to the site "Stop the Great HSBC Graduate Rip-Off", after students called for a boycott of the bank.
The U-turn comes as a warning sign to other institutions, governments, organisations and individuals. For now, virtually no issue goes unnoticed on social networking sites.
Appeals to save local services co-exist with campaigns for human rights and appeals for the return of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann.
Ben Allen, 26, who runs a Facebook group which campaigned to save a section of Camden Market from being replaced with a purpose-built complex containing chain stores, said the web was empowering people who would not ordinarily protest.
"It makes it easier for those who were never going to take to the streets, and empowers people to vote with their clicks rather than their feet," he explained.
Like many Facebook activists, Allen is part of the generation for whom protesting has been an alien concept.
"I'm no Che Guevara", said the music PR, "I've never been to a protest, but networking sites make it easier. At its peak, my group had more than 20,000 members, and that's because it's so much easier just to click to support a cause."
Steve Huff, an American networking site expert, said the phenomenon has been noticeable on the other side of the Atlantic for some time.
"It's a trend I've noticed in the past year, where people all over the country form online groups to campaign for a single issue," he said. "I'm not sure yet that they achieve change," said Huff, "but I would like to think that something can be achieved, if only in establishing a connection between people."
While the majority of Facebook groups, such as "the biggest group hug", or the popular "petition to revoke the independence of the United States of America", are still fairly pointless, serious campaigns for social issues are on the rise.
But, in a sign Facebook is unlikely to shake its naval-gazing image, its most popular campaigning group is the one to keep the site going. Formed during a lawsuit against its founders, it attracted more than a million members.
- THE INDEPENDENT
