Social Networking

Had a sheep thrown at you? Been offered a virtual cocktail? If so, then you've almost certainly been caught up in the phenomenon that is Facebook.

The use of social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo or Myspace, has been banned from many workplaces and branded as time wasting, but the temptation to record every aspect of your life for an audience of friends, colleagues and contacts has proved irresistible to thousands.

Recently a group of students, unhappy with HSBC's bank charges, mobilised thousands into action through Facebook in a staggeringly short space of time. As a result, not only did the bank freeze their charges, but they also pledged to repay a month's worth of penalties.

Hope for Eastbourne, have set up their own group on Facebook. There may still be questions over regulation of groups and the possibility of abuse, but if petitions, gossip and invitations to parties can spread like wildfire through social networking, why not spread Hope?