TechViews
The 21st century elections
Welcome to the 21st Century! For the first time in the history of the United States, majority of the campaign money came through the internet, not from major corporate houses. US president-elect Barack Husein Obama had collected the majority of his campaign money from small $5, $10 and $20 contributions made by thousands of people all across the country, specially the young, the first time voters. Bangladesh too is feeling the election fever as the 9th Parliamentary Election closes in. This time, the vote is all about new and innovative uses of technology, to attract the 32 percent first time voters and another 25 percent of young second time voters. That would young people are now 57 percent of the total voters in the country, for many of whom, internet and cell phones are best means for communication. The political parties in Bangladesh, previously depending heavily on extremely loud use of microphones, flooding the walls with posters and writings, and bishaal jonoshobhas alone, have been quick to adopt the recent trends and have started some very innovative and effective means of campaigning using modern technologies. We at StarTech have tried to find out some of the more interesting publicity measures and news coverage mechanism which are new in this election:
- SMS and email publicity: Many candidates are collecting the cell phone numbers and email addresses of voters of individuals residing in their constituencies and sending them individual emails and text messages, asking for their valuable votes!
- Facebook Fanpages and groups have been set up in Facebook, the most popular online social networking site in Bangladesh, for both the two major political parties and some others.
- Party Websites BNP, Awami League and Jamaat have all put up a fresh look on their websites, complete with election manifestos and election and campaign updates. (No website, however, of Jatiya Party was found after some quick google search)
- Special Election Pages: Major national newspapers, including The Daily Star and New Age have put up special pages for the upcoming elections, including interactive constituency maps, details about political parties and candidates, expert opinions on different issues, and a range of other features.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
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