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In my latest post over at Marketing Magazine, ‘Dear Connex, We hate you.’ I got a response from fellow blogger, Stan Lee (Brand DNA)

He suggested that my Open Letter to Connex was too much and to stop with the whining about the collective power of online.

One remark that he said got me thinking.

“Do you think we would remember Tiananmen Square if that lone student had decided to start a Facebook group rather than stand in front of a tank?”

When I thought about it more, it made sense to me that a Facebook group would have been the communication tool used to call students to action if the protest took form today.

In terms of Tianemen Square massacre it was not just the actions of the one lone student that was protesting but it was the 100,000 students who marched on May 4th for free media reform. These students found out about the protest through student newspapers, university posters and friends.

Today Facebook has taken the role of dispersing information through masses of students. This is evident through the recent response to the 2AM lockout proposed by the Victorian Government. In response to the new ban, two students set up a Facebook group protesting the new ban. They then created a Facebook event that suggested that at 5pm on Friday May 31st, 7,836 people will attend a protest at the steps of Parliament.

Therefore I am willing to put my reputation on it that this will occur!

Therefore if there are not at least 7,836 people at the riot, the title of my next blog for Marketing Magazine will be ‘GUILTY of whining about the collective power of online’

However, I do believe in the collective power of online and I don’t think I am whining about the subject for the simple fact that A) People don’t know about social media and what better way to educate them give them real life example of the power of the medium (Connex) or B) they underestimate the power of this channel.

I cannot think of the last time 7,000+ Gen Yers stood for anything collectively against the Government. Therefore if this actually occurs it will prove to me that Facebook is the tool that is being used to motivate Gen Yers to action and we still do care!