UK Political Parties: Mad to ignore the mobile medium

I had this letter sent in from Gary Corbett, Commercial Director of Oxygen8 Communications. As you know I’m delighted to receive and publish ‘letters (or emails) to the editor’ so let’s see what Gary has to say:

Dear Ewan,

We saw unprecedented use of new media in the recent UK General Election, with the Internet, Twitter and the TV debates all heralding a new age in how political parties communicate with the public. However, the UK political parties still missed a trick by overlooking the role of the mobile phone as a ubiquitous device that can facilitate mass communication and interaction.

We are already seeing examples in Africa where political parties are utilising the mobile phone as a way of engaging with voters. This has ranged from public information campaigns for health, education, transport and environment initiatives in East and South Africa, to full blown campaigning by some parties in South Africa.

Without question, the adoption of new technology in the UK General Election was a huge step forward, but UK parties can learn a lesson from other African countries when it comes to mobile campaigning.

Yours sincerely

Gary Corbett
Commercial Director
Oxygen8 Communications

Thank you Gary. I totally agree with you. I expected to see so much more use of the medium rather than all the focus on the likes of Twitter. Maybe next year. Or in the next 5 years, if the coalition lasts? 😉

Recently Published

Question: When is the only time a traffic jam is good news in the UK?

Answer: When you're sitting in the back of an Uber and you need reliable mobile signal. Boom! Sad, isn't it, dear reader? Travel all around...

Ah yes, an S23 with a BlackBerry Bold Keyboard: Exactly what I (think) I need

I was playing with Midjourney, the AI/photo generation service and I asked it to show me what a Samsung S23 would look like with...

It’s ok, your moon photos aren’t fake, they are just enhanced – quite a bit

Have you taken a photo of the moon recently? I almost did, the other day, when I spotted a fabulous moment here in Dubai....

Don’t move! You’ll jinx it! This looks like a tiny bit of innovation in the mobile world

It has been quite a while since I’ve seen anything in the mobile industry that’s caused me to want to write much. Just look...

The new BlackBerry movie trailer is here

Were you a BlackBerry fan? Of course you were. At some point, almost everyone was. I still remember the days and the joy that...

Airalo: The easy way to roam globally with a data eSIM

Shortly before I began my FinTech & Banking Tour around the GCC, I popped into the Apple AppStore and searched ‘eSim’. I wondered if...