Didn’t get the message? Here’s why

Team Anna relies on social networking as bulk SMS service provider refuses to assist

Didn't get the message? Here's why

Team Anna relies on social networking as bulk SMS service provider refuses to assist

The true power of social networking was apparent when thousands of supporters gathered across India to support Anna Hazare. More than 3,27,000 users have joined the official Facebook page of India Against Corruption (IAC) to stay connected with the movement. But there's another reason behind this.

Nothing phone-y: Thousands are capturing and sharing the movement
on social networking sites via mobile phones. pic/arjun panwar

India Against Corruption, which has got lakhs of people registered with it, could not send SMSes to supporters as the service provider (name withheld) refused to comply. Though there is no official ban on bulk SMSes, services have apparently been blocked since the telecom service provider felt that SMSes for the campaign have 'objectionable' content.

The service provider claims that over one crore people have registered with 'India Against Corruption' campaign but on Tuesday they have not sent any SMSes because they have not received any instructions from IAC. On the other hand, those who are associated with the campaign said that the bulk SMS partners are not willing to help them.

According to web information company Alexa, the traffic coming to official website https://www.indiaagainst/ corrup
tion.org) has gone up by 250 per cent in the last 10 days.u00a0

But the mood across Facebook and Twitter was mixed. Those who did not subscribe to Hazare's method, posted discussion threads on Facebook looking to start a debate on the issue.

Black and white
If BlackBerry applications were blamed for spreading riots in UK, here's another example of the power the famous messaging service holds. The BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), has reportedly formed a group called 'Join Anna Hazare', whose members are mounting by the hour.