I will not profess to have created such a genius headline; the brains behind it were that of Gordon Smart, for his Bizarre column in The Sun, 18th December 2009. This clever play with words was used to describe Simon Cowell’s dismay at the ability of the Facebook group ‘ Rage Against The Machine for Christmas Number 1’, to have knocked his newest X-Factor puppet off of the top spot.

I’m not writing this to discuss whether or not this was fair or correct, or if little Joe was bullied out of his deserved number one spot. I voted on the X factor and bought the ‘Rage’ single, so what does that make me? I love watching the X factor but I know that the only real winner is Cowell and his cronies, and even though Cowell was still making profits from the RATM track, my reasoning for the purchase was to prove a point that the music industry has become, almost, impossible to break unless you are prepared to make a twit of yourself.

The relentless churning out of pop-star-idol-x-factor robots over the past decade has meant that the real ‘rock and rollers’ are finding it almost impossible to get their breaks, and the more naive lot who are prepared to sing awful, dead songs get shot straight to number one and then to oblivion, never to be seen again (apart from, maybe your local panto). This anarchic uprising on Facebook was not an attack on Joe, it was a warning to Simon Cowell to come up with some new ideas and, more importantly, stop taking the piss out of the nation’s intelligence.

So, the question is, ‘what next for this virtual-mob-culture?’ On Boxing Day I was invited to join the group ‘Smack My Bitch Up for Christmas Number one 2010.’ Could this, aside from being quite amusing, be a sign of things to come? The options are endless on how this online rallying could affect our political thinking, education and ability to change others’ opinions, as well as, gaining insight into matters of which we would, usually, never see.

With the general election coming up in just a few months time, all parties have a massive platform now on which to engage with young people in a way they have never before been able to do. If the three major political parties have any clue at all they should be starting up Facebook groups left right and centre ,advertising their policies and how these will benefit the people who use these sites. The demographics of Facebook, I’m guessing by looking at my own group of virtual ‘friends’ are huge and varied. No door-step campaigning MP could dream of communicating with so many different ages and backgrounds.

This doesn’t just have to be about politics; Could England Football fans have the ability to sway Fabio Capello into who plays up-front in South Africa, or whether or not the WAGS are allowed to join them the night before each important game? Could the uproar caused, should he go against any such group and then be proved wrong, be enough to end his career? It sounds pretty unlikely now and I’m probably coming across as slightly mental, but, we have definitely not seen the optimum strength of this newest phenomenon.

The power of the internet and mass-virtual-mob-culture is definitely something the nation should all embrace. Without sounding like a crazy Socialist day-dreamer, finally the smaller voices will have the ability to be heard and, ultimately, we can all choose to listen or not.

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