Get The Electronic Vote Out with Mobile Messagin
by Ewan Spence
There are some who hope that the mobile message in 2008 will simply read “Vote Bush for President 2008.†(Un)fortunately term limits take care of that one, but there are a lot of names who want to be there come November 2008, and getting their message out is their goal.
Now, being based in the UK, and in a constituency that is pretty much solid for one party, I’m not going to preach here about the benefits or problems with one US Presidential Candidate over another; what I am interested in is how they’re going to use Web 2.0 and Mobile Messaging to find, mobilise and use their supporters.
Ewan MacLeod pointed this out over the festive seasons with a post on Obama’s use of SMS shortcodes (in his case OBAMA, or 62262). It didn’t take long for the supporter of another candidate to point out their shortcode – Hilary Clinton using 442008 (the 44th President will be elected in 2008). It’s not the first time MacLeod has pointed out Obama’s use of technology, with his use of text messaging to gain an audience for his show with TV host Oprah Winfrey, but I’m sure we’ll see more and more of this in the next few weeks and months (during Primary season) and then onwards with the chosen candidates towards the main event.
It says a lot about the power of Web 2.0 to reach the younger votes, a group that is generally regarded as being hard to both reach and motivate – interacting with them on platforms such as Facebook, having Twitter accounts is going to become the norm for candidates in many elections, not just the bigger US versions. It might take time, but the blogging politician has an opportunity to make a connection for life with his or her constituents; something especially important where there are no term limits (such as Capitol Hill in the US and the United Kingdom House of Commons).
What’s been the most unusual political outreach online you’ve seen?
