Saturday, November 5, 2011

Give 'em The Finger[s]

Bank of America: “I have over $2 billion dollars in assets and I am going to make an independent decision to charge you money for using your debit card.”


Consumer: “Don’t mess with me; I have a Facebook profile and 500 friends.”


Bank of America: “Ok sorry. We won't charge you.”


When big organizations such as corporations or governments try to exercise unapproved authority over consumers or citizens now, they get the fingers.

Kristen Christian, an Echo Park, California resident started a consumer holiday by just posting a rant as her Facebook status. The holiday: “Bank Transfer Day.” The 27 year old has had over 75,000 people pledge to participate in transferring their bank accounts to non-profit credit unions by Saturday.



22-year old Molly Katchpole started a petition on change.org to stop the proposed bank fee and had more than 300,000 people join the campaign.


What do these two girls have in common? The two girls in their 20’s took on the mega-bank and started a movement by taking less than a minute to type and post their views. 


Since September 29, about 650,000 U.S. consumers opened credit union accounts, an amount estimated to be around 4.5 billion dollars. Looks like the big banks have lost much of their power. 


The power now lies with consumers who speak with their fingers and vote with their feet.


Facebook is free, Twitter is free, and now debit card usage is free.


Even the corporation that created the biggest social media platform faces the wrath of the monster it created. In the past, Facebook changed privacy settings based on the backlash it received from upset users. There is a clear power shift and we are witnessing something that will change the way the world works right in front of our eyes.


Before, people would stand in front of grocery stores and try to talk others into signing a petition. The result: a few signatures and a lot of awkward looks. Each of us has avoided “those people” who try to solicit their views. Now people we trust can click on the word “Share” on their friend’s Facebook status and immediately share it with all of their friends.


This is effective because of the trust factor. Friends trust their friends, not some stranger on the street advocating a cause. When a friend shares a message, we listen, we are more likely to believe it, and more likely to share the message with our friends because it is easy. It happens with a click of a button. I can click "share" on my profile and have over 2,500 friends in every continent read what I say and share it with their friends.


Social media is a worldwide phenomenon.




The New York Times even called the uprising in North Africa “A Facebook Revolution.” It offers a platform to say “you are not alone; see you in Tahrir Square [in Egypt].” The Egyptian government tried to paralyze the movement by shutting down the internet, but it was too late.


During the Iranian movement, Twitter even claimed that it had delayed scheduled downtime for maintenance because of Iranian protesters’ need for its service.


Facebook and Twitter cannot take credit alone for many uprisings, but it truly deserves due credit. Social media starts the idea, but the protests following take more than just a few clicks of a button. People need to take action. 


Social media connects the people and provides momentum. It empowers them.  


There is power in numbers. The numbers following a dollar sign are far less powerful now than numbers of people connected. There has been some clear power shift and the world will never be the same. 

7 comments:

  1. Agreed. Social media is a huge change factor in our world. Just like how you talked about its positive effects, I talked about its negative effects in my last post. Hopefully the effects will provide more positive change than negative change. But we just have to be careful and watchful to see what kinds of movements spread. So far, the middle east movements seem like positive change for now, but new movements could sprout up just as easily and be in a wrong direction. We just have to more vigilant than ever.

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  2. Social media has created an amazing new sense of power and given voice to the people. The power of "weak ties" amongst facebook friends has allowed the messages of a few to turn into the protests of many. But how far can social media go in a groups quest for actual social change. Yes, the facebook protests did convince (or help to convince) Bank of America there there new debit card charge was a bad idea but can it go so far as to really implement change in the Middle East? I think facebook is more of a motivator and a way to spread information rather than an actual outlet for change.

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  3. Social media has so many critics, but people ignore the amazing amount of power it gives back to the people. Katy, you said that social media is used more as a way to spread information rather than actual change, but the two are so closely linked. When people don't know what's going on in the world or what their government is doing they aren't going to seek change because they are ignorant to the problem itself. By acting as an outlet for information, facebook is in fact being used as a catalyst for change.

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  4. Really agree with your article and loved the writing style. Social media, for all its critics, provides so many opportunities that were unavailable 5 years ago. The ability to round up people, to get one's voice heard, to advertise, to connect & reconnect, etc. It is a powerful tool that can bring revolution fervor to life just as much as can help someone stalk their ex. Sure social media has its inherent downsides, however its benefits - many likely yet to have been discovered - are astounding. It will be fascinating to see how many different ways individuals will take the power of social media into their hands in the coming years.

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  5. Loved the execution of your post! I agree that social media has had a big impact in our society today especially with the recent advancements in technology. To see social media being used in this aspect, is in a way commendable because people are able to exercise their first amendment rights on a whole other level than generations before. With one click we are able to reach a mass media as oppose to standing outside of Albertson's asking (often times begging) for people to sign petitions.

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  6. Like everyone else's comments and other people's blogs these past couple of weeks... the power of social media is increasing everyday. I believe social media is a great momentum starter and brings a community together, however I do not think it necessarily brings change. Yes a petition can easily be started thanks to social media yet unless someone actively carries it further, it can die as quickly as it starts. Great post and I loved the intro!

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  7. Social media is certainly changing our perception of "power". I read recently that the current business model of online marketing is changing. Instead of measuring webpage attributes, like number of hits and content - online analysts are now looking at the way identities work online. They are now measuring dimensions like gender, age, and size of social network. Tracking online trends in this fashion has changed the way internet social power is measured. This makes me think of my very first post on my own blog in which I talk about Public Intellectuals being prods for spheres of influence and society. Here's the link to my article: http://earthpsych.blogspot.com/2011/09/bill-nye-public-intellectual.html

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