Facebook Turns a “Few Friends” into 15,000
On Sunday 14 March 2010, a motorcycle rally in support of the UK’s armed forces serving in Afghanistan passed through Wootton Bassett. Wootton Bassett is the nearest town to the Royal Air Force base at Lyneham, through which UK’s war dead are repatriated.
The event was organised in part by 18-year-old Elizabeth Stevens. Elizabeth had originally planned the event for a few friends. She told the BBC:
Our local bike club was throwing around the idea of a bike run, so I decided to make a Facebook page, and it’s just taken off.
From Facebook
On the day 15,000 bikers took part in the event. Each paid £5 (US $7.50) to register. The £75,000 ($112,500) collected will go to the Afghan Heroes charity.
This is another illustration of the power of social networks to spread a message and organize a response. Social networking sites allows your campaign to reach large numbers of people at little cost.
Think of a poster attached to a tree on a street corner. Facebook is the worlds biggest street corner.
Popularity: 36%
