The new armies of the ’net. Can pop technology ramp up public interest in politics?

[Ian David]

By ERICA SAGRANS
January 31, 2007 5:38:50 PM

More than a million people have downloaded the “Hello Garci” ring tone — whose more than 11 versions variously incorporate samples from 50 Cent, Vanilla Ice, and the Beatles — making it one of the most popular clips to emerge from a cell phone. Yet the most provocative thing about “Hello Garci” is how it draws its inspiration not from a pop song, but a 2004 political scandal in which Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s voice was captured while she allegedly discussed vote-rigging with elections official Virgilio “Garci” Garcillano.

Before the audio tape was released, “people kind of knew what happened, but since they embargoed the wiretap, the story wasn’t getting out,” says Jo Lee, a technology consultant in Providence. Once the tape was leaked and it became a ring tone, the recording was unstoppable. While impeachment attempts and mass protests failed to throw Macapagal-Arroyo out of office, her approval rating has been consistently negative since the recording was released.

“It’s brilliant,” says Lee. “The president’s most humiliating moment is played over and over, every time a cell phone rings. It would be so effective here; it’s this great bumper sticker approach to guerrilla politics.”

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In California, for example, MobileVoter, a group employing technology to promote civic engagement, used text messaging to register young voters, since texting is so popular with that age group, in 2006. Lee, who worked with MobileVoter, calls the idea “a no-brainer,” because “it literally puts a voter registration booth in the back pocket of every person.”

The unpopularity of President George W. Bush and his policies, particularly the war in Iraq, represented the biggest factor influencing Democratic gains in the 2006 elections. Still, the just-past election season will be remembered as the year when blogs came into their own, candidates got smacked around via YouTube, and Time declared “You” its Person of the Year, because of the ongoing “revolution” in personal technology and social networks.

More:
http://www.thephoenix.com/article_ektid32823.aspx