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.