A campaigner’s guide to Facebook

Ben Toone looks at how campaigners can use Facebook to spread the word.

''Possibly the greatest thing about Facebook groups is the fact that they represent a cheap and easy way to set up a pressure group without the need for building complex websites and mailing lists.'' ''The National Union of Students successfully got recent graduates and students over the summer holidays to campaign against HSBC's policy to scrap interest-free overdrafts for those graduating in the summer, with a key tool being Facebook.'' ''Several, admittedly non-serious, groups have become hugely popular, such as the ‘girls vs. boys first group to 100,000’ or the recent group 'I'll name my daughter Spiderpig if this reaches 100,000 members'.''

Facebook is a fantastic tool for campaigning. Within a couple of minutes someone can set up an event or group. People can express a common interest through posting their own pictures, videos and opinions whether in discussions or on the group’s 'wall'. Often these groups are small, between friends, but some can take a life of their own.

Several, admittedly non-serious, groups have become hugely popular, such as the ‘girls vs. boys first group to 100,000’ or the recent group 'I'll name my daughter Spiderpig if this reaches 100,000 members'. The latter was actually a hoax by Australian web developers who used it to find out the dynamics of the spread of group membership, finding that proactive students were often first to pick up on a theme, followed by their friends and onwards.

In fact it is through student protest that Facebook recently hit the headlines as an effective lobbying tool. The National Union of Students successfully got recent graduates and students over the summer holidays to campaign against HSBC's policy to scrap interest-free overdrafts for those graduating in the summer, with a key tool being Facebook. "There can be no doubt that using Facebook made the world of difference to our campaign," NUS vice President Wes Streeting said in a recent BBC interview. "By setting up a group on a site that is incredibly popular with students, it enabled us to contact our members during the summer vacation far more easily than would otherwise have been possible."

Charities are also experimenting with Facebook campaigns, some even making use of online advertising which is targeted on people’s interests. Lizzie Whitbread campaigns for Save the Rhino International: "Facebook and other sites (such as MySpace) are really useful for reaching out to a slightly younger audience than traditional advertising, and are also great because they're low cost".

It's also worth not being too precious with your group, as members joining will add their own content and opinions to the site. In fact it is this input by the group’s members which gives the special feeling of collective ownership. This doesn’t mean you don't have control, as an 'admin' you will be able to moderate the group, as well as provide news and message members.

Possibly the greatest thing about Facebook groups is the fact that they represent a cheap and easy way to set up a pressure group without the need for building complex websites and mailing lists. However the trick is to find something that people can recommend to their friends.