The Campaign Company Blog

The Power of Facebook!!

Illustration today of the power of online protest when the bank HSBC today agreed to reverse it's decision to charge full interest on graduate overdrafts.

HSBC had planned to scrap a three-year interest-free overdraft deal for graduate accounts claiming this was a "commercial decision", made in response to bad debt and the misuse of such accounts.

In response students claimed they joined the bank in the belief that they could take advantage of such a free overdraft to tide them over between leaving university and starting work.

Instead of using traditional campaign techniques, the student protest developed through Facebook, with the "Stop The Great HSBC Graduate Rip-Off" group having so far secured over 5,000 members by the time HSBC caved in. The campaign was initiated by the National Union of Students (NUS) and creates a new image of student protest in comparison to stereotypical images from the 60's and 70's.

As a result of the campaign today HSBC issued a statement that said:

“Like any service orientated business we are not too big to listen to the needs of our customers. Following the feedback from our graduate account holders, both directly and via the National Union of Students (NUS), we have taken the decision to freeze interest charging on 2007 graduates’ overdrafts up to £1500 and refund any interest charged in August. We are also pleased that we will be working with the NUS to enhance our new account offer so that it fully reflects the needs of recent graduates”.

Examining what happened, it looks like the campaign was successful because:

1. Facebook enabled them to assemble a large number of people very quickly. Students and recent graduates writing on the Facebook website threatened to switch to other banks and called for boycotts at freshers' fairs as well as wider days of actions aimed at banks.

2. The timing of the dispute was particularly embarrassing for HSBC - as banks are seeking to recruit new student customers - who they hope will stay with them in the long-term - at the beginning of the academic year.

Whilst Facebook is in the news for other reasons from time to time, today's student victory over HSBC illustrates the power of online social networks to affect change. This will not be the last we hear of the power of Facebook!

Presidential Candidates look to Facebook and MySpace

Presidential candidates for the 2008 election are using social networking Web sites as a new tool to do everything from generating support among undecided voters to raising money. Democratic Senator Barack Obama and Republican Representative Ron Paul are not leading all national polls, but their use of social networking Web sites beats their presidential rivals.

Obama has more Facebook and MySpace "friends" than the other presidential contenders - about 100,000 more than his main Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who leads in traditional voter polls. Almost every major Democratic and Republican candidate has personalized Facebook and MySpace profiles. But will online success mean election success? While gauging a candidate's success in online fund raising is possible, predicting whether having the most online "friends" will translate into electoral support is still in question.

Facebook has recently added a mechanism that allows users to build applications, or new features, on their profile pages, potentially expanding candidates' ability to contact supporters.

Campaigns seem to be approaching social networking differently. Obama appears to be taking it rather seriously, using it to attract and organise supporters. Paul, on the other hand - who has become known for his strong online support - takes a more relaxed approach. His profiles are reportedly maintained by his grandchildren in order to add a personal touch. His campaign also tries to respond to each message but doesn’t try to organise, target a specific audience, or use the number of friends as an indicator of voting patterns.

Meanwhile, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a leading Republican candidate, is trying to raise funds via social networking sites. His director of online communications recently said that the campaign is banking on users learning about the former governor and then making an online donation.

So what do you think - will online enthusiasm translate into off-line action and result in votes and funds… and will it work on this side of the pond too?

Young People to lead on environmental change

A new report from the Sustainable Development Commission, Every Child’s Future Matters, calls for local authorities and young people to lead on environmental change, and calls for schools, youth services and community groups to empower young people to do this. TCC has recently been working with schools and youth groups in EC1 on recycling and climate change – aiming to empower children and young people to be recycling champions in their local areas. In East Sussex we have also been working with the County Council, young people, and the wider community on participatory budgeting projects which are seeing young people having a genuine say and making a positive impact on their local environment. The SDC report explores the influence of the environment as a whole - from road traffic to green spaces to climate change - on children and young people’s well-being, and provides evidence that the environment can deliver the Every Child Matters outcomes. Does anyone have any other examples of how local authorities and other bodies are working with young people on environmental change? Read the report here

Young People and Participatory Budgeting

Over the last few months we have been working on a project for East Sussex County Council to help young people to participate in deciding how to spend £20,000 in two projects in Peacehaven near Brighton and Hollington in Hastings.

We think this is really important work and reflects important trends in both youth engagement and local government participatory budgeting as was shown by recent speeches by ministers Hazel Blears and Ed Balls. Indeed the Prime Minister has taken a deep interest in this subject recently hosting a "Youth Cabinet" where the Young Mayor of Lewisham - a project we have helped develop for that Council - took the chair in the Cabinet room!

The current East Sussex project follows on from a previous TCC ‘Emotimapping’ exercise there. Over a month-long period local residents from the two areas - including many young people - told the County Council how they felt about their area. Using large scale maps and MSN Messenger-style ‘emoticons’ - expressing emotions such as ‘feel safe’ or ‘feel scared’ - young people identified local places and described how they felt about them. They then went out ‘on location’ to film and interview one another talking about these places and what they thought could be done to improve them.

Common themes were identified in both areas and young people had various ideas about what could be done to improve their neighbourhoods. Suggestions ranged from making public transport cheaper and more accessible, to improving street lighting, cleaning and litter and graffiti, and providing more constructive activities for teenagers.

As a result of this consultation work the County Council agreed to provide money to enable residents in the Peacehaven and Hollington areas to practically address some of the issues they identified.

Following consultation with local residents, Councillors, MYPs (Members of the Youth Parliament), school pupils, community groups, and other stakeholders, a short list of ideas was drawn up for each area and a vote held.

More than 1,000 young people cast their votes in a ballot for how £20,000 of County Council grant should be spent improving their communities in Peacehaven and Hollington. In Peacehaven it has been decided that the money will be spent on organising a community event which will include cleaning up local parks and producing artwork for the local shopping centre and youth club. In Hollington the budget is likely to be spent on play equipment for a local park, improving the local youth centre, and holding a Community Sports Day.

In the coming years participatory budgeting is likely to be an expanding activity for youth services and local government. We are pleased to have assisted East Sussex County Council in leading the way in giving local people a say!

Communities on the Web

It is quite likely someone will have mentioned the online social network Facebook in some context to you, whether to wax lyrical or to warn you of its dangers.

Not to be outdone the Campaign Company now has a page or two on there. We are interested in exploring the development of these online social networks and I'm sure we will publish our views and conclusions here in due course. We are are also developing wiki systems to make this blog and website much more interactive. More on that in the future.

Its not just Facebook, where communities and social networks are developing. Second Life even has its own money, exchange rate and developing market economy. If you meet "Campaign4 Yue" on there, that is me, though I am still finding the processing power required to move around a bit daunting!

Some may think these communities are escapism or frivolous, but it can be argued that they add to the richness and complexity of social relations. There are also online communities that work together on cracking serious scientific number crunching issues through linking together down time on computers and using screen savers for practical purposes to build what is currently a 4 terraflop global supercomputer. If Facebook is the Face of 2007 then Grid Republic could be the story of 2008.

What all these sites illustrate is that people want to engage with each other in a range of social interactions - some fun, some serious. It sounds a bit like real life to me!

Many of these online communities reach out to groups that are sometimes difficult to engage with by traditional means such as young people.

Just as democracy is the "least worst system" for resolving differences in real life, then there will need to be similar systems of deliberation and choice online to resolve issues.

If we want to make Democracy work well we have to apply ourselves to all situations whether its a local community or an online community.