Labor in Illinois

The newest thing in political organizing is using mobile phones and text messaging to reach supporters and get them to act. During the Roberts and Alito Supreme Court confirmation hearings the People for the American Way set up www.savethecourt.org to coordinate their campaign against the nominees. As part of this, they created a “Mass Immediate Response” system, which sent text messages to supporters urging them to contact members of Congress at crucial moments during the confirmation process.

In the Philippines, cell phone ring tones helped to spark a movement to impeach the country’s president after a recording surfaced in which she appeared to discuss vote rigging. Also, union organizers working in the hostile export sector use cell phone text messaging to alert members and potential members to upcoming meetings, major grievances, and other job actions. The union gathers basic contact information for everyone who comes to meetings, whether or not members, and then uses a free online service called Chikka to distribute text messages from Internet cafés. Most commercial cell phone services in the U.S. allow for similar functions.

Important issues to consider with text messaging include 1) most people consider their cell phones private and do not want unsolicited messages. So you must get people to explicitly opt in to the program. Anything that resembles spam will generate hostility. 2) Messages must be short and useful. The screens are small. They should contain information people want. 3) The text messages should make action easier for your members and supporters.

For more information see the following:

The Politics-to-Go Handbook: A Guide to Using Mobile Technology in Politics (Institute for Politics, Democracy, and the Internet at George Washington University, 2005). Buy it for $20 including shipping at www.ipdi.org/publications.

MobileActive: Cell Phones for Civic Engagement is a global network of activists and campaigners using mobile phones for civic action and engagement.

WinkSite (Wireless Ink) is a service that allows registered users to set up web content that is laid out in a way that makes it readable on cell phones. According to their site, they are “a community-focused microcontent publishing platform designed for personal expression and social networking for those who enjoy a mobile lifestyle.”