Headline, October09, 2013

''' !!! ELECTIONS APPS -AND- 

SOUR GRAPES >? ^^^ '''

To reason and understand what makes the cell phone such a uniquely powerful tool for community organizing and activism, consider three facts about text messaging;

It is almost completely spam free, it's personal, and nearly every message gets read.

Websites, e-mail, paper-mail and phone calls don't come anywhere near achieving this trifecta.

''It's close to reaching everyone as anything   -here and every where else in the world,'' says Jed Alpert, co-founder and CEO of Mobile Commons. Alpert is a leading voice in the growing field of mobile activism: using cell phone technology   -mostly text messaging   -to dispense information, raise money and advocate for political and social change.

Mobile Commons, based in a former Box factory in Brooklyn, works with clients including Habitat for Humanity, Planned Parenthood and was also fully involved in President Obama's reelection campaign. 

In exchange for monthly fees   -$2000 to $30,000=  depending on the usage, clients can use Mobile Commons software to send mass text messages but only to those who opt to receive them, collect and mine data, and even route phone calls to lobby on behalf of political agendas.

It's particularly effective at engaging young people. ''DoSomething.org, a U.S. nonprofit that encourages teens to participate in community service, saw its text-message list of 500,000 members surpass its e-mail list. With Mobile Commons software, 

DoSomething.org uses geographic data to text teens about nearby volunteer opportunities.

It also recently conducted a campaign to send quirky messages to teens from an imaginary cell phone baby  -''I'm up now and need food'' -to emphasize the challenges of unintended pregnancy. 

Half of teens contacted through the campaign said it made them realize that caring for a baby is harder than they thought.

So, Mobile Digital campaigning is also changing political advertising, allowing candidates to woo voters while they wait in line at the supermarket and to target people when they attend large gatherings 

The last campaign's mobile app: Obama for America, allowed users to find local rallies and polling sites, sign-up for voter canvassing duty and get registration information from their smart phones.

Just how much will the mobile revolution affect the future of politics? Hell of a lot, for sure!! For example in U.S., after 2010 midterms, a wave began building. According to a PEW study, 14% of American adults used their cell phones in that year to tell the others that they had voted, and 12% of adults used phones to keep up with political news.

The larger inference is that this technology is changing politics in every broader sense, altering and facilitating the way Americans engage in self governance. And the hidden thing about it is just, that it is so damn cool!!

The mobile phone has become a kind of super extension of ourselves  -faster, brainier, more reliable and always always on. A Smart phone today has more computing power than Apollo 11 when it journeyed to the Moon. And that is what !WOW! should never forget.

With respectful dedication to all the future Student Leaders of the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

''' !!! The World Students Ecosystem Of Accomplishments !!! '''

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless