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Let's message a change

SMS-activism is catching on. But how effective is it, really?

PHOTO: K. ANANTHAN

YOU'VE GOT AN SMS A mobile is a handy medium for social networking

A revolution can now be set off from the palm of our hands. SMS activists are willing to press a few buttons to support a cause, voice an opinion or build an agenda.

Mobile phones have become instruments to spread political and social messages. The Jessica Lal murder case has shown this. Messages relating to blood donations and analyses of such things as the petrol price hike or the reservation issue are not uncommon.

But pressing a few buttons to spread a message is one thing and going out of this virtual world to support causes is another. Not many are keen on meeting strangers, no matter how immediate or worthwhile a cause. "I don't mind if I can help somebody in need by just forwarding messages," says Minna, a cellphone user. "But I am afraid to meet or contact a stranger, for example, to donate blood."

In politics

But SMS has pulled crowds and changed history. In 2001, text messages helped overthrow a government led by Joseph Estrada in the Philippines. He had corruption charges levelled against him and got away with it when 11 senators voted against opening the envelope that contained clinching evidence. When voices of dissent started being heard, text messaging came in handy. They helped coordinate a gathering 700,000 strong near the People Power shrine in Manila. This incident introduces the book Smart Mobs-The Next Social Revolution by Howard Rheingold. The book, as the title suggests, discusses the possibility of using the device for social change.

Time Asia's article, U say U want a revolution, lists countries (Spain, China, Hong Kong, India and the Philippines) in which text messaging has brought about political change. In India, the article says, in the Parliamentary campaign in April 2004, the BJP targeted 30 million-odd mobile phone users with Vajpayee's recorded message that reflected the party's "feel-good" campaign. At the same time, the Congress opted for text messaging. The party's message read: "Some only feel good. Others have good feelings for you."

Political parties are reaching out to voters with text messaging in other countries too.

Social networking is the study of technology bringing people together, outside the virtual world, to act. S. Kuppuraj, a post-graduate student of engineering, has been studying this phenomenon. So far, most students' attention has been focussed on the Holy Grail of social movements, the Internet. For the past few years, they have been debating the possibility of mobile phones and social change. But no revolutionary, who seeks social change, can trust a mobile phone, says Kuppuraj.

There are privacy issues embedded in the technology. Next time you receive a message, scroll down beyond the name of the sender's number and you will see an equally long number.

Message centre

This belongs to the message centre. The centre is nothing but a computer that receives your messages and sends them to the recipient. From here, the Men in Black can download all the messages sent to and fro and track the sending number and the receiving number. They can have a filter for any word.

On the Net, however, encryption works as a guard against privacy violation. The Internet also scores in terms of memory and the available screen size. You need to be connected to receive calls and messages unlike on the Net. Being connected, however, also means being accessible to unsolicited messages, even well-meaning ones.

Though SMS-activism is catching on in the city, it still is a prerogative of the moneyed. Most people in India use the cell phone primarily to talk, says Kuppuraj. So only a small percentage of cell phone owners participate in SMS polls conducted by television channels. Not everyone is equipped or savvy enough; some are just not inclined.

Many mobile users forward messages without verifying their authenticity. This sometimes results in rumours and false information being transmitted as text. Some messages fool people into believing that forwarding them would fetch someone — either the forwarder or some person in need — a sum of money.

Says a spokesperson of a cell phone company: "We don't run schemes like this. And to the best of our knowledge, such schemes are not feasible."

So there is a flip side of reaching out to people via a handy medium such as text. Those who want to manipulate the medium can do so based on information that is, at best, a half-truth, or at worst, a blatant lie.

ASHA S. MENON

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