Facebook Is The New Petition
Historically, petitions are a common and powerful technique for rallying people together around a cause or push for action. Unfortunately, it can be quite time consuming and challenging to obtain a substantial number of signatures. There are plenty of sites out there that host online petitions, but is this the most effective way to bring people together today? The answer is no. So, where do you go? Facebook!
Fan Pages on Facebook are quickly replacing the petition. Betty White’s current buzz in the media is the perfect example. After the hilarious Snickers Super Bowl commercial aired, one of Betty’s fans created the Fan Page: Betty White to Host SNL (please?)! Over 500K fans accumulated after less than a month. Lorne Michaels, executive producer of Saturday Night Live, noticed this Fan Page and made the decision to invite Betty White onto the show as a guest host on May 8th. Fans of the page rejoiced when they heard the news. In the past few weeks, Betty White has been popping up all over the media.
Facebook has established itself as a valid source of representation. It is the online identity of over 400 million people in the world. So next time you want to start a petition, build a Fan Page instead!
And, if you are not yet convinced that Betty White will prove to be a great comedic host on SNL – just check out the video below:
What causes have you seen receive major support through Facebook Fan Pages? How has that affected the outcome of their initiative?
Your only example is from entertainment. I wonder if this will be the trend for political causes, which is what I think of when I think of petition drives. Has anybody tried it?
[...] communicate with their communities. Check out the article here. They also recently posted this great article about comedian Betty White being selected to host Saturday Night Live on May 8, 2010 all because of [...]