Mobile SMS Messages Are Not Simply For Casual Communication

Take a look at your mobile phone's message inbox. Chances are that you will find a few forwarded jokes and quotations, greetings, some alerts from network operations and of course, messages from family and friends. From this angle the Short Message Service (SMS) seems rather simple. But is that the case?

The first text messages was sent in 1992 and since then, this form of communication has come a long way. Sms messages are no longer just another means of staying in touch with people, they are now being used to affect our decisions through advertising, decide the fate of people's dreams, through voting on reality shows, and even bring about social, political and economic revolutions.

The power of this harmless little act that we so fondly call "Texting" can be gauged from the fact that it has brought down governments. In 1001, the 13th president of Philippines, Joseph Estrada, had been accused of political corruption and was undergoing an impeachment trial, yet he refused to resign. When crucial evidence against him had been presented to the senate, majority of senators voted to have it blocked from examination. This infuriated many Filipinos who in very little time, managed to gather thousands of protesters at the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) a highway that connects five cities of Metro Manila. The road was choked and though the protest was non violent, the message was clear, the Filipinos wanted Estrada to step down. The reason so many people were able to gather in such a short time was that students and activists all over Manila used text messages to spread this word, Go 2 EDSA, wear black, was a popular sms that circulated that day. The result, the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines withdrew their support of Estrada, who gave in the resignation at 6:15 pm that very day.

The impact of messages on public opinion has been proved more than once, as it has often been used as a tool for political mobilization.