Where were YOU when RATM got to number 1?

Christmas 2009 saw a change to the usual, predictableRATM Reach UK Number 1 nature of the pop charts. Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’ managed to beat the X-Factor competition to claim this year’s Christmas No1 spot in the charts thanks to 975,000 fans of a Facebook group.

Most would say it was a victory against commercial dominance within the pop charts. But I supported this for another reason, it was for this reason I bought a copy myself.

I think this event is a testament to the power that social websites can have when a group of inspired people combine for a common aim and actually follow it through, as far as I know this is the first time a basic Facebook group managed to do something this extraordinary – we see groups for every cause and ideal there is but let’s be honest, all that happens is that they get left to gather dust, and eventually forgotten.

But this group has managed to get mentions and stories from every mainstream news channel. It has used its influence to change pop history with the first track every to get to No1 on downloads alone as well as raise nearly £95,000 for charity. You got to wonder how on earth how the group’s creator, Jon Morter, did it. The idea itself was great as it is a hotly contested point of view but you need more than that to gain a real following. And I think we can learn a few things by his example.

From my experiences with the group, Jon and his fellow administrators on the page did very well in the most important (and often forgotten) part of social media – interaction – by frequently updating the members with news and viewpoints and encouraging them to spread the word and give their own opinions. When the critical period of asking supporters to download the track arrived they supplied news on what download sources to use, Jon contacted the chart authority itself for advice on the danger of overbuying and commented to fans accordingly. And they updated fans constantly on copies sold.

They never ignored critical, insulting or pro X-Factor comments either, they would reply and disagree without being immature or insulting. They made a point of reminding people not to insult or spam rival pages or points of view.

The mass media coverage of the group has been great, with every mainstream channel at least mentioning it. In this respect even the critical stories that painted the group in a negative manner didn’t harm it – if fact I believe that it did the opposite. The band themselves even supported the UK rock masses in its efforts, to the degree that they promised to donate their earnings to charity as well as celebrate the victory with a free concert sometime in 2010 (fingers crossed).

So there you go, by keeping people interested and involved you can spread the word on any point of view as long as you keep at it. Already there is another similar campaign underway, this time to get the Sex Pistols ‘God Save The Queen’ to number one in time for Her Majesty’s birthday – if they receive similar success she may get a birthday to remember too.

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