It has been reported throughout the Internet this week that due to pressure applied through a group set up on social networking site Facebook HSBC has performed a U-turn on a proposed change in student overdraft rates.  The plan was to abolish the interest free overdraft for recent graduates and replace it with a 19.9% interest rate. But after the group was set up on Facebook opposing the change which attracted over 5,000 members HSBC decided against it and refunded anyone who had already been affected.

Is this a sign of things to come or just a product of the current frenzy around social media? HSBC claim it shows “they are not too big to listen to the needs of customers.” But what was it that actually convinced them to make the change? The 5000 people who joined the Facebook group, or the fact it received national press attention through the BBC and countless other news sites?

My guess it is the later and rather than a sign of people power it is the weight of the news networks which has forced this move.  HSBC more concerned with their image in the eyes of the masses rather than 5000 students on a website.

It does go to show however how the medium of social networking can be used to add weight to a greivance and force action.  I’m sure we will see plenty more of these groups sprouting up in the coming months but suspect not so many will get the mass exposure needed for them to have any great impact.   In the meantime HSBC earn brownie points for listening to the “little people” and a few skint students get to live interest free for another few months!

There have been a couple of instances recently which have made me consider whether we are giving away too much personal information on Facebook and other social networking sites.

The first was when I got an alert on my Facebook homepage with a little broken heart symbol next to it letting me know that somebody I knew had changed their status from “in a relationship” to “single”. Now the person in question was not somebody I am particularly close to, I know this person, but do not necessarily consider them a friend, and certainly not a close friend. It got me thinking, if I changed an element of my status as personal as whether I was in a relationship or not, or possibly something even something more so like whether I like men or women! (not that I am thinking about it!) then would I want it broadcast to my whole friend list? No is the answer.

There are certain things I want to keep to myself and a select group of close friends and family, and within my friend list I have old friends I have not spoken to for years, casual acquaintances, and friends of friends I have met once or twice. I don’t particularly want to reduce my friend list significantly to avoid this as there may come a point when I want to contact these people but I certainly don’t want to be broadcasting my private life to them. So what’s the answer to this conundrum? At the minute I don’t know, I’m hoping the people at Facebook might find a way to sort that out for me!

The second instance was on the long drive home from work when I was listening to the radio. There was a discussion about how it was possible to access other peoples Facebook accounts and a caller pointed out the amount of information that was contained within your profile and more specifically if you collected that information you could pretty much steal someone’s identity. I was a little dubious at first but then when I looked into it they were not far wrong. If you are a “friend” of somebody or they have a public profile you can pick up their full name, their date of birth, their town of birth, their partners name, and in some instances mobile number as well. Not a bad start if you want to try and pass yourself off as somebody else! Coupled with this is the fact that most peoples passwords to accounts are based on information such as this so if you try enough combinations you may be able to guess their current passwords as well!

I guess the moral of the story is, keep your profile private and be careful who you call a friend!