Bristol Pillow Fight- Why Facebook Groups are not news

Yesterday  myself and a couple of friends  went down to College Green in Bristol, to take part in a Facebook organised pillow fight. To put the even in context, 1200 people had confirmed they were coming, with another 2000 potentials. It had been advertised for months, and had apparently even got coverage on national radio.

Yet it was total washout, quite literally. The rain came down in droves , about thirty people turned up with most of them being under 16, even to the extent of mothers with prams. At the very best it looked like an organised fun day, and at worst  it was a bunch of idiots getting muddy for no apparent reason.  Admittedly a pillow fight on Easter Saturday is always going to resemble the latter. But what it does show is that Facebook groups are easy for people to join, but not at all indicative of how people actually feel.

Of course social media has had a massive impact on how campaigns are run, with the Rage Against The Machine Christmas number one and the Love 6Music campaign being good examples. Yet crucially, when these are a success, it is due to their support being purely online. I can buy the Rage single at the click of a button. I can send an email to the BBC in thirty seconds. Yet when it comes to direct action, even as little as getting a pillow to some grass receives almost no support, with somewhere along the line of  a 95% dropout rate.

Why this has wider implications is in the current trend of reporting Facebook groups as news, or businesses looking at how their product is perceived.  This has become very trendy in the last few years, it seems to me they are  ultimately meaningless. I could easily show support for the BNP, HateRacism, and John Terry with three button clicks. Yet not one person will be affected by my decision. Just because somewhere along the line I have joined a group saying I hate Coca-Cola , when I am thirsty it might well be the first product I reach for. Also, a group’s numbers reveal nothing about the passion of its members. Ten dedicated followers of Christianity who start a group promoting their beliefs seems much more powerful than a thousand people saying John Cena is a better wrestler than Edge.

The internet is a fantastic tool for communication, but it is a virtual plane. We must never forget that direct action will always be superior, and that what people say is not necessarily a reflection on what they actually do. This might seem depressing, but what I feel is that it is more a case of we are interpreting  Facebook groups in the wrong way. If we have an issue that we feel passionately about, a group is a great way to raise awareness and support. Yet we cannot rely on others who have joined to carry on a message. Each group must have a leader who rallies the support into actually achieving their aims, rather than just sitting back and pointing out how successful it is.