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Idea Transcript


Our lives are becoming completely mobile. Not only do we talk, but also we move, eat and sleep with our phones. It is difficult to think of another tool that has become such an important part of our lives in such a short space of time. Cell phones have become much more than just phones, and are

The Digital and Mobile Transformation of Political Communication

now the most versatile, global and powerful tool we have ever had. Ever smaller, more comfortable and feature-packed, these new devices are well-adapted to our mobile lives. This new mobile lifestyle transforms social and individual behavior, and produces changes in the way we consume and use technologies and social networks for personal and professional purposes. While the market is highly familiar with these technologies, politics has generally ignored them, though this is gradually changing as they see how technopolitics can change the rules of the game. In this book, Antoni Gutiérrez-Rubí talks about these enormous shifts that are defining a new era.

Antoni Gutiérrez-Rubí

ANTONI GUTIÉRREZ-RUBÍ Political communications advisor and consultant. He is a member of the main professional associations in the field of political and business communications. He shares his thinking on new trends in the political, social and business areas as part of several masters in communications at various universities and in the articles and books he writes. He regularly writes for media outlets such as El Periódico de Catalunya, El País (where he also has a blog called Micropolítica) and Cinco Días. He collaborates with the newspaper Reforma (Mexico), in the Forbes-Mexico network of blogs and in El Telégrafo (Ecuador). Some of the books he has published include:

The Digital and Mobile Transformation of Political Communication

It is hard to recall the times when mobile technology was a luxury reserved for the select few. It feels to us now as if it had always been there. It is a part of our everyday lives, an “essential” tool for getting by in our society. The cell phone is a type of “super extension” to our body, an extra brain with the ability to keep us permanently connected to our surroundings.

45

Micropolítica. Ideas para cambiar la comunicación política (2009) [Micropolitics. Ideas to Change Political Communication] 32 Tendencias de cambio (2010-2020) (with Juan Freire, 2010) [32 Trends in Change] Filopolítica. Filosofía para la política (2011) [Philopolitics. Philosophy for Politics] La política vigilada. La comunicación política en la era de Wikileaks (2011) [Politics under Surveillance. Political Communication in the Age of Wikileaks] Otro modelo de partido es posible (2013) [A Different Type of Political Party is Possible] Tecnopolítica. El uso de y la concepción de las nuevas herramientas tecnológicas para la comunicación, la organización y la acción política colectivas (2014) [Techno-politics. Use and Conception of New IT Tools for Collective Communication, Organization and Political Action] www.gutierrez-rubi.es @antonigr

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THE DIGITAL AND MOBILE TRANSFORMATION OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

Autor: Antoni Gutiérrez-Rubí

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THE DIGITAL AND MOBILE TRANSFORMATION OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

Author: Antoni Gutiérrez-Rubí Investigadores en Madrid: Karina Boggio, Gloria G. Durán, Héctor Fouce, José Ignacio Gómez, Fernando González de Requena, Maritza Guaderrama, Amparo Lasén, Sara Sama

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This book is published by Ariel and Fundación Telefónica, in collaboration with Editorial Planeta, who do not necessarily agree with the content expressed herein. This content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors.

© Fundación Telefónica, 2016 Gran Vía, 28 28013 Madrid (Spain)

© Editorial Ariel, S.A., 2016 Avda. Diagonal, 662-664 08034 Barcelona (Spain) © Texts: Fundación Telefónica © Cover Illustration: © Ivan García © Andres Garcia Martin © Bagiuiani © Twin Design / Shutterstock Fundación Telefónica Editing Coordination: Rosa María Sáinz Peña First Edition: February 2016 This monograph is published under a Creative Commons License Type: Attribution, ShareAlike 

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Acknowledgments This book could not have been possible without the invaluable help of Javier Pedraza and Xavier Peytibi. Their contributions to helping convert ideas and data into text was crucial. I would also like to extensively thank the rest of my team members, whose dedication enabled me to find the time necessary to write. I also thank Rosa Mª Sáinz Peña, from Fundación Telefónica, for always having confidence in my work. Without her, and without the help and support from her collaborators, this book would never have come to life. And I also thank you, the reader, who understands that we already live in a mobile world. Changes, those that are occurring now and those that will occur—ever more rapidly—make us question how it all affects society as a whole and, as well, how it impacts politics, institutions, political parties, and candidates. Only those who understand that the mobile world is not the future, but rather the present, will be able to take advantage of its force and potential. That is what this book is about, and so I thank you for reading and your complicity.

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Table of contents 1. A New Reality ................................................................................................................................................

1

2. The Internet and Mobile Device Boom .......................................................................................

17 30 31 32 35 35

2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5

The Growth of “Visual” Social Network Use ............................................................................. The Digital Marketing Industry ....................................................................................................... Mobile Marketing................................................................................................................................... Mobile E-commerce .............................................................................................................................. How We Get Around.............................................................................................................................

3. The Cases of Spain and Latin America: Leaders in the Number of Mobile Users .............................................................................................................................................

3.1 Spain ........................................................................................................................................................... 3.2 Latin America ..........................................................................................................................................

37 38 43

4. Radical Changes ........................................................................................................................................... Mobile Phones: the New Public Space for Communication ................................................ Generating Information...................................................................................................................... News Consumption .............................................................................................................................. Quality-of-Life Enhancing Communication ............................................................................... Saving Time ............................................................................................................................................. New Ways to Communicate ............................................................................................................. An Extension of Ourselves ................................................................................................................ Less Is More .............................................................................................................................................

47 48 49 50 51 51 51 51 52

5. From Face-to-Face Politics to “Pocket” Politics ..................................................................

53

6. Changes in Politics .....................................................................................................................................

65 72 73 73 78 80 82 84 86 86 92

4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8

6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10

Mobile Advertising ............................................................................................................................. Mobile Network Optimization ...................................................................................................... Mobile Fundraising............................................................................................................................. Mobile-based Participation............................................................................................................ The Door-to-Door ............................................................................................................................... WhatsApp on the Campaign Trail ............................................................................................... Emoticons and Politics..................................................................................................................... The Search for Impact ..................................................................................................................... Mobile Devices and Campaigns in the Social Networks ................................................... Technopolitics .....................................................................................................................................

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Chapter

1

A New Reality

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The Digital and Mobile Transformation of Political Communication 2

We Live in a Connected World, where Mobile Phones Are Part of Our Identity Although it wasn’t that long ago when mobile technology was a luxury reserved for a few, it seems as if it has always existed, having become part of our everyday and “essential” tools for our life in society. The mobile phone is a kind of “super-extension” of our body, a brain capable of connecting us with our surroundings. Today, in some parts of the world, it’s easier to have a smartphone than access to a bathroom or safe drinking water. According to estimates by the United Nations (UN), there are more people with access to mobile phones than there are to clean bathrooms. Every day, millions of people carry phones that, on average, have a technological capacity beyond what was available to Apollo 11 when it landed on the moon in 1969. The mobility of our communications has changed everything around us: our ways of relating to each other, ways knowing, participating, expressing, loving. It’s hard to imagine that it began with the Handie-Talkie H12-16, a device developed by Motorola, which allowed radio communication with troops during the Second World War. This technology, created for military purposes, was later adapted and improved until, on April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper (manager at Motorola and inventor of the first mobile phone) made the first call from a mobile phone on a New York street. That device weighed approximately one kilo, and measured 33.02 x 4.445 x 8.89 cm; its battery allowed for one hour of communication. Interestingly, Cooper didn’t call anybody close to him; on the contrary, that first call was made to his greatest rival in the industry, Joel Engel, from the Bell Labs of AT&T. One of the pioneer companies to operate in the mobile phone sector was the American company Bell with its service known as System Service. At the beginning, it wasn’t very popular because it was extremely expensive. It was a luxury destined for big businessmen who needed to be in constant communication during the eighties. Today, it’s hard to imagine a world where people don’t have a phone enabling them stay connected at all times with their immediate surroundings, and with all of society as well. In addition to the high cost, the first mobile phones were also very heavy, so they were kept, almost exclusively, inside cars. Nowadays, all we need is a pocket to keep a phone with us and we don’t need a lot of money to purchase one either: with 15 Euro one can purchase a phone with basic functions, if

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A New Reality 3

you happen to be in China. If you are negotiating with a nomadic Kyrgyz Shepherd 1 we could swap one for a sheep (a bride would cost one hundred). Kyrgyz shepherds adore the mobile phones they obtain by barter, which they charge with automotive solar batteries. Even though they cannot use them to communicate (there’s no coverage), they use them to take photos and play music. From the days when mobile phones were expensive and bulky until today, not much time has passed, especially in comparison with the time it took for other changes in our social life to occur. However, technological advances in wireless devices that allow us to stay in constant communication seem to have no end, and they continue to surprise us every day. From being pieces of equipment that needed covers and screen protectors—and had to be kept away from water and dust—nowadays these products are much more resilient. And the reason is simple: we live in a diversity of environments and the mobile lives with us. What do you remember to take with you when you leave home, what do you take and, lastly, what do you use? The most frequent answers, regardless of culture, gender or context, are: keys, money, and (if you have one) your mobile phone. The process to decide, consciously or unconsciously, what to take with you implies that the things you do take and use have some kind of spiritual, emotional or functional value. Throughout evolution, humans experimented with extensions of the physical self. They created tools that helped them hit harder, go faster, survive, hunt, etc. Today, one could say we are experimenting with an extension of our mental self. We carry a lot of information in a device, and if we lose it we almost feel like we have lost our entire life; we enter a kind of no-man’s land. Only money could be that object that we always have with us and try not to forget at home. However, most of us don’t take our wallets to bed to sleep; we don’t pick them up and check them every few minutes. Furthermore, when it comes to paying for something, our smartphone can now replace our wallet. Our lives are becoming completely mobile. We don’t only talk, but walk, eat and sleep with our phones. It’s hard to think of a tool that we have developed such a close relationship as the one we have with our mobile phones, and in such a short time. What somebody could have imagined when holding a mobile phone the size of a shoe for the first time is nothing compared to what is happening today. Knowledge is just a click away. We can always be digitally and mentally present in places completely different from where we are physically. Mobile phones allow people to break through the barriers of time and space. Space, by making a phone call connecting different points. Time, by being able to send a message anytime we want and where the receiver can read it anytime they want. Far becomes near. What seemed far away has become close. Real-time news in India or New York are now notifications on our mobile phones. Time is different in the digital universe, different from the time that runs in the natural world.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyz_people

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The Digital and Mobile Transformation of Political Communication 4

To be honest, one can do all these things from a computer or a phone booth, but the mobile phone’s added attraction is that it’s personal. It’s comfortable and private and your own. It is part of a connected and interlinked world where we meet, interact and share our ideas in an almost immediate way regardless of time or place. Millions of people who are not connected also want to be part of the conversation. We live on a planet with more than seven billion inhabitants, most of them connected through mobile devices. If we want to plan or think in the future, we must consider how all these people will act and connect. Our mobile phone has become our extension, small in size but infinite in information, data and functions we can access (banking, ID, etc.). After Hurricane Sandy, many people stood in line between Madison and Fifth Avenue, not looking for water and food, but trying to charge their mobile phones. Connectivity became as necessary as food or shelter. This is a tool that nobody imagined would become so necessary for our lifestyle and from which we cannot be separated for even a day, and in many cases, not even an hour. Currently, people say they feel anxious when separated from their mobile phones. Our phones can provide us with knowledge; they can help us find our relatives and friends; and they show us the best places and prices. They connect us to our surroundings. In addition to all the evident changes in our behavior and the way we interact, the mobile phone is also influencing our physical movements, such as the way we walk. According to a study conducted by the University of Queensland (Australia), published by the Public Library of Science,2 using our mobile phone while we walk (especially when we read or write messages) affects our posture and balance. Queensland researchers tested and analyzed twenty-six healthy individuals and they observed their movements while they walked eight meters at an average rhythm in a straight line. Each one of the participants of the study had to perform 3 different tasks: walk without a phone, walk reading a text on the phone, and walk while writing a text. Using a tridimensional analysis system, their body movements were evaluated, confirming that sending and reading texts affected (to a lesser degree when reading) their body movements when walking in comparison to walking without using a mobile phone. This study concludes that reading and writing texts on the phone can increase risks for pedestrians. Dangers are even greater if you happen to meet drivers who cannot leave technology alone, like Mark Zuckerberg, founder and head of Facebook, who was photographed checking his phone while driving. That image was obviously captured by a mobile phone and shared in social networks. Nevertheless, the combination of mobile phone and car is not a synonym for risk and irresponsibility. On the contrary, during the last few years many applications have been developed which are useful for drivers in such a way that some have even replaced the role of the back-seat driver: they literally talk to you to help you find directions if you get lost, tell you where to find the closest gas station and its

2. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371/Fjournal.pone.0084312.

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A New Reality 5

prices, suggest shortcuts, warn you about radar traps, and even remind the absent-minded exactly where they parked their car and what they have in the glove compartment. Drivers have found that mobile phone applications are a support and safety system. In addition to apps, car manufacturers are thinking of incorporating and designing systems that make things easier for drivers: answering calls using only voice, sending dictated SMS messages, and even reading received messages. But aside from making life easier for drivers and promoting safety, the objective of automotive manufacturers is to recover the interest of young people in having their own car, including their technology products allowing them to stay constantly “connected” and “sharing.” However, that’s going to be a complicated battle. Smartphones and tablets have replaced cars as icons of freedom, so much so that, according to research3 published by the consulting company KPMG and based on a survey of 200 top executives of the automobile industry all over the world, 54% of them said that cars are not attractive for young people. People under 25 do not feel the need to own a vehicle; instead, they prefer to buy mobile phones and other technological devices. Mobile phones are assumed to be a basic necessity. Not even with the economic crisis we currently find ourselves in, or when our income is low, do we consider foregoing the device that keeps us in communication, and has brought about a rapid change in our preferences. Not many years ago, one of our greatest desires was to have our own car as soon as we turned eighteen. Today, young people give more priority to connectivity, to smartphones and tablets. This tendency has already been measured in the United States where only 27% of new cars sold in 2012 were purchased by people under 34. The reason being that for the so-called “millennial generation” (born between 1980 and 2000), the car is not an icon of freedom anymore. Freedom today translates into connectivity, the Internet and social networks. Automobiles, meanwhile, are perceived as burdens, and technology is taking its place as a symbol of freedom. The “vehicles” young people want now are mobile phones and devices that reduce the need to leave home and drive to meet someone. The technologies that allow them to have their hands free from steering wheels so they can connect to their surroundings. But not only is the automobile industry being displaced, but also major photography brands are not safe from the smartphone and its appetite, which apparently are on their way to having the whole cake and eating it, too. Sales of traditional cameras have dropped considerably, while smartphones, equipped with ever better cameras and functions, do nothing but increase their sales reports. The title of photographer Chase Jarvis’ book is right: The Best Camera is the One that’s with You.4 In that sense, mobile phones, always in our pockets, have no competition.

3. http://www.kpmg.com/ES/es/ActualidadyNovedades/ArticulosyPublicaciones/Documents/2014-Global-Automotive-Executive-Survey.pdf 4. http://www.bokus.com/newsletters/Pdf/9780321684783.pdf

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The Digital and Mobile Transformation of Political Communication 6

The mobility and functions our devices have not only allow us to take photographs anytime we want, they can take us to faraway places that may interest us. We don’t have to go to the Vatican anymore to visit the Sistine Chapel, we have transferred the great art of its physical surroundings to its digital ones, and nowadays we can see and hear anything we want anywhere we are. It is precisely the location of our smartphones that is adding a new and unprecedented way to enjoy art and places. The band Bluebrain5 was a pioneer in this sense and it designed an application for the National Mall6 in which the order and reproduction of the songs in the musical album are based on the location. Visitors who download the National Mall app7 can hear different sounds and musical compositions specifically for the area (already segmented) where the user is walking (tracked by a GPS). This is the first musical application of this type, “location alert,” designed to be listened to in specific places all over the world and which invites the user to enjoy and connect more actively with their surroundings. The band also developed an app designed for New York’s Central Park and has announced plans for launching another that can be used along the famous California Pacific Coast Highway route. With the technological advances available we can enjoy and acquire new experiences. Through sound, text and image, and it all seems to be related to our mobile life. Proof of this can be found in the winning image of the World Press contest in 2014, which relates directly to our devices. The American Photographer John Stanmeyer won the world’s highest distinction for photojournalism for his photograph “Signal” depicting a group of African immigrants in Djibouti, at the seashore, raising their phones trying to catch a low-cost network from neighboring Somalia, to let their relatives know they had gotten there safe. Some look for the signal that allows them to communicate; for others, however, it is enough to have a charged battery to be able to play games on their mobile phone. In the eighties there was a videogame boom, and the toy industry suffered considerably. The end was forecast for dolls, cars, and Barbie houses. However the brewing storm passed and virtual toys did not bury traditional ones. But a new threat has risen: currently toys are at a face-off with tablets and mobile devices as a source of entertainment and fun. Candy Crush Saga has gone from being a trendy game to a mass phenomenon for the mobile phone industry. With more than 150 billion games played, its success is undeniable, as reflected in its profits. But the use of mobile phones has not only had an impact on cars, cameras, and games, etc., but also on air travel. For many years mobile phones (telephones, tablets, laptops) were suspected of potentially causing interference in airplane flight systems, and their use was prohibited during takeoff and landing, even in “plane mode.” However, the mobile phone has won a new battle: the aviation authorities were wrong and many countries now allow devices to be turned on during all the stages of flight (although airlines have the last word, and they can set their own restrictions in this regard).

5. http://bluerainmusic.blogspot.com.es/.d 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Mall 7. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/national-mall-by-bluerain/id437754072?mt=8

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A New Reality 7

Winning photography of the World Press Photo, by American John Stanmayer.

Keeping your phone on, at all times and in all places, is good news for those who have the pressing need to feel connected all the time, those who are alone but with “everybody,” those who share and “exist” from their mobile device and without it they feel empty. New technologies, like computers or smartphones, have given society as many benefits as addictions and diseases. Mobile phones have become an inseparable element, to the extent that many psychologists are talking about emerging high levels of dependence. It may seem exaggerated, but every day there are more researchers warning about the increasing number of people who are having physical and psychological problems such as anxiety, palpitations and sweating when they forget their phone at home, have no coverage or run out of battery. There’s already even a name for the problem: Nomophobia. Nomophobia is a new disorder that consists of the manifestation of an irrational fear of not having a mobile phone with you. It’s the term (abbreviation of the English word no-mobile-phone phobia) experts have given it and which some are even calling the disease of the 21st Century, and the numbers seem to prove them right. Spain may be the appropriate environment for the spread of nomophobia. It’s one of the countries with the most mobile phones per capita in the world: 96% of Spaniards own a mobile phone.8 In addi-

8. http://www.pewglobal.org/2011/12/20/global-digital-communication-texting-social-networking-popular-worldwide/

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The Digital and Mobile Transformation of Political Communication 8

tion to the phones themselves, applications like WhatsApp that let you share messages and photos instantly, have contributed to increasing the problem. The success of WhatsApp leaves no room for doubt. The deep and dizzying pace of its impact was such that no competitor had time to react, including traditional SMS services. Its market penetration in the country was more than 80% of the users (one of the highest rates in the European Union), which means that, currently, more than 23 million people have downloaded the application to their phones. Checking WhatsApp, e-mail, or social networks are some of the many, and almost infinite, functions and possibilities one can find today in mobile phones. Applications for all tastes and needs have created habits that have caused an increase in the addiction to smartphones, especially among new generations. According to a survey done by Telefónica, 40% of young people, between 18 and 30, say they cannot live without their phones. If they had to choose, some would even rather do without food than their phone. They prefer not to deprive oneself of an endless flow of information, social networks, messages and photographs, among other functions we have, literally, in the palm of our hands. Furthermore, nomophobia manifests itself with symptoms like anxiety, general malaise, anger or unrest, denial or minimization of the problem. Symptoms include a feeling of unease when away from one’s device. “Phantom phone vibration syndrome” or simply “phantom vibration syndrome” is another condition characterized by continuously looking at one’s mobile in the belief that it has vibrated from receiving a message. Not to take your attention off the mobile screen, even when you have company, has also been named: phubbing. This term comes from merging the words phone and snubbing, and it was coined in the United States in 2007 precisely when smartphones arrived and their use started spreading. Addiction to mobile phones also brings problems of bad manners and the incapability to interact with people in a non-digital environment. It’s not strange to say that phones, for better or for worse, are part of us, and it seems as if they have always been, and numbers confirm it. The company Mobile Insurance published a study 9 conducted among more than 2,000 British citizens, where they were asked how much time they spent using their mobile phones. According to the data, users spend an average of ninety minutes a day talking, or looking at their screens to navigate the Internet, answer messages, read emails, play games or check what’s going on around them. That average of ninety minutes using their phone every day translates to 32,850 minutes a year, almost 23 days or more than three weeks stuck to the mobile phone, a demonstration of how important these devices have become in our lives. There is no doubt that in the last few years, smartphones, tablets and other technological devices have consolidated as necessary elements for our life in society, even if in some cases, this “need” is

9. http://www.mobileinsurance.co.uk/blog/average-britons-spends-almost-34-entire-days-on-mobile-phone-per-year/

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A New Reality 9

taken to the extreme. Smartphones have turned addiction to the computer and Internet into addiction to the mobile phone. Today’s “addicts” are not chained to a desk anymore. It’s not strange to find people who say they feel anxious when they forget their phone at home, even if they forget it in another room. This dependency makes many users use their phones even before going to bed, as a ritual necessary for feeling it next to them, close. In fact, many would say they cannot sleep if they haven’t first spent some time reading, browsing, replying, etc., on their devices. A recent survey10 done by Motorola in the United States revealed that more than half (60%) of the participants sleep with their mobile phone, a number that increases to 89% with young people between 18 and 29 years of age. But checking our phones at that moment of the day could be more harmful than beneficial, making getting a good night’s rest more difficult. Taking devices to bed could not only affect our melatonin production, which is necessary for good sleep, it is also very likely that our sleep will be interrupted by messages or calls in the middle of the night. In fact, many people say the first thing they do when they wake up (as if it were a natural reaction) is to reach out for their phone to check it. Most of our daily routines and productivity have a close relationship to our phones. Thanks to them we can answer and make calls, which is what they were created for, but we largely now ignore this function because of chatting, receiving and sending emails, texts, files, videos, audios and images; shopping, transportation, invoicing; taking notes; keeping up with sport news; listening to music; finding a place; in brief, there are countless activities and mobile applications designed for all tastes and needs. Even our moments of leisure are changing. According to a study11 published by the company that created the multimedia player Real Player, TV watchers who limit themselves to staying on the sofa watching a show on the television are disappearing. “Couch potato” viewers are fewer and fewer. Today we tend to be more active; we are going from “loyal” moments, where our attention was strictly directed to television, to experiences where we have several screens on at a time. The numbers in the above-mentioned study reveal or, rather, confirm, what is evident: we are becoming multi-screen individuals (86% of the people interviewed said they use their phone while watching TV). This change of attitude towards TV, where we have left behind our passiveness and gone to sharing content, placing comments, posting in social networks, have led us to being increasingly impatient with traditional advertising. Zapping, which we used to do during commercials, has decreased, since almost 60% said they keep themselves busy with other screens during commercial breaks.

10. http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/survey-reveals-customer-service-is-the-most-important-criteria-for-smartphone-buyers-1924248.htm 11. http://visual.ly/couch-potato-extinct

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The Digital and Mobile Transformation of Political Communication 10

We can hardly remember those times in which families gathered around the television and kept silent while watching with rapt attention, like a kind of ritual, what was shown on TV. Today, it isn’t enough to see what is happening on only one device, we need to connect to the world in several ways and be in many places at the same time: watch our favorite show, reply to WhatsApp messages, check Facebook, read news, send emails and, in sum, do an endless number of tasks on more than one device. And, if a traditional moment of relaxation like watching TV has been affected, meals, a traditional space for getting together with family and friends, has not escaped the changes generated by the mobile. We may be together at the same table, but we are socially interacting with the virtual world. Frequently we find people more worried about taking a good photo of their food (in order to upload it to Instagram or Facebook) than about enjoying it; more worried about sharing their experience with those “present” in their chat room rather than with those present at the table. This phenomenon has reached the point where games have been invented to penalize mobile users; for example the first one to look at their phone has to pay the bill, or like the Abu Gosh restaurant (Israel) that rewards customers who turn off their phones while enjoying their food and their company with a discount. The power of technology is unquestionable. With our mobile phones, we follow daily routines, keep a social life, express our own style as a way to face life, share how we feel, etc. We are building a world in cyberspace and many of us live there. Our mobile devices are much more than sophisticated technological devices. They are objects that are part of our culture, our daily life, and our social interaction. Due to their deep social integration and rapid development as a means of communication and access to content, they allow us to blend the public with the private, and we carry “the entire world” in our pockets, accessing limitless knowledge with a simple click. We have moved from landlines at home to ever more powerful mobile units. The emergence of this mobile connectivity is changing the way we interact, share and know. We make ourselves present anywhere. With the emergence of email as a means of communication at work, the mobile era grew even more rapidly. Many workers ended up with devices that, besides receiving phone calls, allowed them to receive and reply to emails. People gained the “ability” to stay in touch via email and they liked it; they liked it so much that phones became “smart” and multitasking. The growth of social networks, especially Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, have played an important role in the development and positioning of the mobile phone as a means of communication. Users have found an easier way of interacting with each other, and we are leaving computers behind. Today, thanks to phones we keep in touch with our social network. And it has worked well not only for technology but also for the economy. Currently, most people can find affordable phones that let us “get together” and connect with the world around us.

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Applications for social networks included in our mobile devices gave us the chance to “free” ourselves from our personal computers at home, offices, or other static and specific places. Now, regardless of place or time, we can “be” with others; however, young people understand in this territory privacy does not exist. What they share or comment on online can be seen by other contacts, like parents, teachers or bosses, something that has made them “migrate” to a new way of meeting others: instant messaging applications. The existence of these kinds of messaging platforms is no secret. Our computers have chats just like mobile phones have always had SMS, however, contact was expanded when both methods were combined and, especially, when sending messages with our phones became less costly. Currently, there is a broad market of instant messaging applications iOS, Android, or any other operating system used by our smartphones. Young people have a lot to choose from, according to their preferences, when it comes to sending messages. WhatsApp is a classic; Line has a variety of fun emoticons; Whisper allows for certain anonymity; iMessage comes already installed in Apple mobile phones; or Snapchat, which does not save received messages. Whichever they choose, these applications give the ever novelty-seeking young people a new way to communicate. But this instant messaging boom does not affect exclusively a young public. The workplace has been touched by this new wave of apps, and today we can see that applications like Confide12 can play a relevant role in businesses because it offers that level of confidentiality that is so important for users. In fact, just like Snapchat, the message sent through this application disappears once it is read, and there is no way to keep it in our mobile devices, not even with a screen snapshot. This application, therefore, offers users a high level of confidentiality for “transferring” all types of information, both professional and personal, which one may want to keep private. In other words, Confide gives us the chance to share “off the record” information: just as in a spy movie, where messages sent “self-destruct” once they are read, leaving no trace at all. According to the developers of this application, Confide allows freedom of speech among users, so they can communicate sincerely and openly without having to worry about conversations being saved on any device and, eventually read by somebody who shouldn’t. It’s about having a personal chat with the advantages offered by instant messaging: comfort and speed. Additionally, just like Snapchat, it can be downloaded for free to iPhone and Android, and it is very easy to use. Confide is a platform that, as the name implies, seeks to protect privacy and confidentiality of messages sent. Not only does it ensure the elimination of the messages once they are read, but goes even further using advance systems of data protection. It is not possible to take screen snapshots, nor to take photographs or make photocopies of the mobile screen, much less have a complete copy of the message or document. In fact, words in the message stay dark until you place your finger on them for revealing, deciphering or understanding the message.

12. http://rtve.es/noticias/20140116/confide-app-para-intercambiar-mensajes-se-destruen-vez-leidos/850760.shtml

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We are witnessing an explosion of applications, where the contacts agenda is vital and they are attracting the public from “traditional” social networks. All you have to do is know what kind of contact it is (friends, work, family) to choose how we want to communicate. There’s nothing to keep us from getting in; we don’t have to wait to be added or accepted to get in touch. Social networks and other applications have already used these kinds of messages: Facebook Poke and Snapchat for images. However, instant messaging is a phenomenon that is growing and hitting the big guys in “social connectivity” hard. Facebook is no exception, and it has also been affected by this new wake of messaging, so much so that its finance director, David Ebersman, when presenting his report to shareholders in October, 2013, warned about losing users, especially among young people. Facebook was born initially as a platform for users who had a university email address to find classmates. It was a new and fresh project, which new generations fell in love with, and it was extremely successful. It was so successful that the founders decided to eliminate the requirement of being enrolled in a university: the result, known to everybody, was a huge social network with millions of users. Now Facebook has all the characteristics investors look for in a web site, but it is possible that, following the trend analyzed by David Ebersman, it will lose its fascination among the new generations of Internet users. This is why we have lately seen new movements in development as well as in purchases, inside the ever-changing world of technology. The most notable was the interest generated in WhatsApp by the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, indeed enough of an interest to buy it for 13.2 billion dollars. This instant messaging application had a growth estimate of one million users a day which is, undoubtedly, a very important feature, even though analysts still consider it a defensive purchase due to the scant success of the instant messaging application Facebook Messenger, which failed to convince even the social network’s users. Slingshot, available for download since June 2014, is another of Facebook’s attempts to appear innovative among young people. This application allows receiving photos in exchange for another image; in this way, developers want to create a flow of information where no user remains passive. The young public are migrating to services that offer more privacy and that make saving messages impossible. Today it may seem crazy, but Twitter also started as a more private messaging service, a platform for co-workers to share content. We could compare it with a group chat visible from your computer, where text messages are sent with a maximum of number of characters (something that has not changed). It was born in 2006 and when it became popular, it lost its privacy feature, becoming a place to share messages that anyone could read. The function “retweet,” which allows for multiplying the visibility of the message and the chance to follow anybody directly, even celebrities, without having to get their consent, has positioned this platform as one of the most widely used these days. Social networks have become a window for sharing information with the world, and in them, every user’s message is made public, thus privacy in conversations began to disappear. That’s why new applications were created to regain the privacy of our “secrets” in communication.

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Adapting to the dizzying pace and constant changes in the world of technology is an issue that big companies have always had to face if they don’t want to disappear from the market and become history. For example, when the computer took its place as the top and newest means of communication at the end of the nineties, Microsoft led the messaging sector with Messenger. However, the ever-increasing use of mobile devices took the company down a path to start directing their attention toward the mobile user. It acquired Skype, the leading application for voice calls, and Yammer, Twitter’s counterpart, which wasn’t as lucky and currently is used only for internal instant messaging in some companies. Google, the search engine giant, offers text messages, chat and video calls in one single application, “Hangouts.” However, at the moment, it has not managed to lead the market with any of those services. An interesting purchase was the one made by the Japanese e-commerce leader Rakuten, who recently acquired “Viber” for 658 million euro. The project’s goal is to make the application profitable, which already has 300 million users. How? Like Line (a messaging application), for example, whose profits increased considerably (an estimated 20 million euro), just by offering users the possibility to buy virtual stickers to attach them to their messages. Profitability is the main key word in this business, very different from WhatsApp, Confide and Snapchat, which, on the contrary, have not shown much interest in reaching this goal yet. Our mobile phones have become an essential part of our life in society, so deeply rooted in our daily routines that some consider them our new fingerprint, since though them, our identity can be established. The prestigious scientific magazine Nature published a study13 that shows that, just like every individual has unique fingerprints, our mobility is also one of a kind. After analyzing mobile phone data belonging to 1.5 million people for a period of fifteen months, researchers discovered that only four space-time points would be necessary (based on the place and time the phone is used) to identify the unique mobility trace of 95% of individuals. Why those four places are enough to identify most people is simple: human mobility is one of a kind. Our daily rounds are unique. With regard to fingerprints, Edmon Locard showed, in 1930, that only 12 points are necessary to identify them. In the case of data fingerprints, researchers showed that it is unlikely that somebody else would be in the same places and at the same time of the day. Researchers demonstrated that those four identification points could come from available public information, like your home or work address, and publications on Twitter or other social networks. Mobile phones are also being used to find out if you are credit-eligible or not. Your phone number may become an “identity verifier” and through it, credit reports are being performed in which companies can determine how long you have had the same line and how punctual you are with your payments. Considering this, our mobile phone may become our main reference for credit reports, and it can indicate whether or not we are a credit risk for the system.

13. http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/130325/srep01376/full/srep01376.html

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It is a fact that mobile phones are part of our lives, routines and activities outside of our every day environment. Even when on vacation our phones are “indispensable”; we don’t consider leaving them behind, they are our new maps and instruments for contracting activities at our destination. Tourists are switching from the computer to the mobile phone to make reservations; we have a new way of travelling and travel agencies must adapt to that if they don’t want to be replaced by our smartphones. Since its creation, the mobile phone has been a generator of big and rapid changes, especially in the way we interact. There are many applications for getting a date, as there are relationship breakups and problems caused by this new technology. In any case, it is undeniable that the mobile phone has deeply transformed our reality and our way of living in society like nothing before. Advances in both devices and applications seem to have limitless possibilities. The Chinese Company Shenzhen Estar Displaytech presented the first mobile phone in the world with holographic technology, an innovative device that is capable of projecting tridimensional images on the screen, according to the official journal China Daily.14 The phone, called Takee, looks like any normal smartphone, but its capacity to project lights on its screen forming 3D images that seem to be “floating” above the device make it clearly stand out from among the competition.

The president of the company, Liu Meihong, said in the Chinese newspaper that his company has invested millions to offer these technological advances to the mobile world but he didn’t mention any specific amount. This technology will allow users to enjoy even more mobile services, such as games,

14. http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-07/18/content_17833091.htm

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music, maps and browsing, added the president of the company, whose shares have registered notable increases in the stock market after presenting this innovative device. The company did not give details on how this technology works; however, we know that this smartphone has four screens and a sensor that will follow the user’s eyes, thus regulating the visualization of the 3D images. Every day, mobile companies develop technological innovations that are making possible what seemed like only a dream not long ago… we’ll see how far we can go.

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Chapter

2

The Internet and Mobile Device Boom 2.1 The Growth of “Visual” Social Networks Use

30

2.2 The Digital Marketing Industry

31

2.3 Mobile Marketing

32

2.4 Mobile E-commerce

35

2.5 How We Get Around

35

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Facts and Figures about the Increase of “Mobilization” in Society. Examples and Future Trends. The Mobile Phone - a Present and Future Reality Throughout history, different elements and objects have emerged to revolutionize our lives. The stone, fire, steel, to mention a few, have been key protagonists that marked an era and contributed largely to the development of mankind as we know it today. Our usage of these elements provided us some welfare and benefits to face the environments we inhabited. Today, millions of years later, the situation is not very different. There is one tool that is marking an era and appears to be essential for “survival” in our society today: the mobile phone.  Figures collected by the report  Mobility Report1 by Ericsson in June this year indicate that the overall number of mobile subscriptions increased by approximately 7% during the first quarter of 2014, and around 65% of all mobile phones sold in the same period were smartphones (in 2013 the sales of these devices had reached 50%).  Not only that, but during the second quarter of 2014, one out of every three mobile devices sold worldwide was a tablet, according to data from Canalys.2 Phablets are smartphones with large screens, over 5 inches and up to 6.9 inches. As of 7 inches, we are talking about small tablets. The arrival of Apple to the world of phablets with the launch of the iPhone 6 Plus promises to boost a market that is already on the rise even more.  Smartphones are at their peak and the trends indicate that they will continue in this dominant position in the market, a factor that has contributed to the 65% increase in mobile data traffic in 2014 with respect to the figures of 2013. The first quarter of this year alone was enough to exceed the amount of data traffic for the whole of 2011. By the end of 2019, this figure is expected to increase tenfold, as smartphone yearly subscriptions to smartphones will have tripled by then. 

1. http://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2014/ericsson-mobility-report-june-2014.pdf 2. http://www.lavanguardia.com/tecnologia/moviles-dispositivos/20140922/54415290986/graficos-phablets-conquistan-mercado-dispositivos-moviles.html

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The increase in the number of smartphone users has been the spearhead for the accelerated mobile data traffic growth, even more than the traffic generated from laptops, tablets and mobile routers.  During the first quarter of 2014, there were 120 million new subscriptions associated with all kinds of mobile devices. The current figure of 6.8 billion is expected to reach 7.6 billion by 2019. Smartphone subscriptions in 2013 subscriptions totaled 1.9 billion, and are expected to reach 5.6 billion by 2019. The increase is largely due to users switching from “feature phones” or low-end mobile phones to smartphones that can now be purchased at a low cost. The report also shows that most of the current mobile phone subscriptions are for “feature phones” but smartphones are expected to take the lead by 2016. By 2019 the number of smartphone subscriptions in Europe will be around 765 million, which means that it would exceed the total population. The General Media Study (EGM -Spanish acronym) conducted in Spain also showed results that confirm smartphones as the most currently used devices to access the Internet.  Mobile phones have become a fundamental part of our everyday activity and many routine tasks require them. As with other tools from the past, the mobile phone could be an extension of our hands and our brain.  We have undoubtedly been living in the mobile era. It is an undeniable reality. We need them; we don’t go out without them. Our dependency has come to the point where some companies have to verify that their employees turn off their office mobiles for eleven hours: with the prohibition of being online3 so they can rest.  And while some are asked to disconnect, others develop applications intended to enhance the communication and security of our messages in the work environment. After the companies began to worry about the flow of information that their employees were circulating through WhatsApp, over which they have no control (as they do over corporate email), the idea of creating IMbox.me arose, a messaging application (developed in Spain) that has more security features than WhatsApp and offers companies the necessary control to manage its use among workers.  Mobile phones have penetrated so deep that every sector of our society, regardless of origin, age, or religion… uses them. Everything seems to be valid and acceptable; the time or place to use our devices doesn’t seem to matter. This has been proved, even during a ceremony as solemn as the “Day of the Four Popes,” when some cardinals could not help taking their mobile phones for a few hours, even taking pictures of the event and taking “selfies.”

3. http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/economia/francia-acuerda-que-los-trabajadores-apaguen-movil-salir-del-trabajo-3247776

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Not even the President of the United States, Barack Obama, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and the Prime Minister of Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, could help themselves. The three leaders were captured at the time that they took a selfie, or self-portrait, with a mobile phone during the funeral of former South African President, Nelson Mandela, in Johannesburg.  But mobile devices have uses that go beyond keeping us up to date, online, sharing content or selfies in our various networks. They are also being used for more philanthropic and important purposes, such as preventing diseases and saving lives.  It is well known that, in some places in Africa, people can access mobile phones more readily than sources of drinking water. For this reason, low-cost medical examinations, that only require the presence of a mobile device (like Peek,4 a mobile-phone-based eye-exam system), have been designed, developed, and implemented, bringing medical services to the most remote locations.  Everyone’s right, without exception, to readily accessible health care is an accepted fact even though, in some countries, even today, it seems to be a privilege reserved for very few. As with health care, access to texts was also limited. For many years books belonged exclusively to ruling classes and were a symbol of power. The Church, kings, aristocrats, the rich… were the chosen few to acquire written or printed texts.  As time passed, barriers were torn down and books became elements of public domain. Governments promoted access to books, thereby becoming instrumental to the educational development of the countries. Currently, with the arrival and the rise of mobile phones and devices, to purchase and read is

4. http://www.peekvision.org/

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a reality within reach of many people, thanks to our portable screens that make them more universal. Many countries with low reading levels have found a perfect tool in mobile phones to encourage citizens to read. According to UNESCO 5 researchers in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Pakistan hundreds of thousands can now read thanks to their mobile phones. 62% of people surveyed in these countries answered that they read much more thanks to their phone. In addition, 90% reported that they used their phones to read to their children. The challenge is great when you think of getting the inhabitants of the world to have access and read the vast amount of texts that have been published over time. The Internet has been a great help in the effort to achieve this goal, and the mobile phone its main ally.  Data published by the United Nations in 2013 6 revealed that of the 7 billion people on the planet, more than 6 billion have access to a functional mobile phone. A pretty impressive figure for this device if we consider that only 4.5 billion inhabitants have access to a bathroom.  Mobile phones are present and have the ability to reach places where books are scarce. They are ubiquitous devices full of information and technology that, while still fulfilling their basic communication function, continue to evolve and increase the possibilities of carrying out activities such as reading, and best of all, at a low cost (it is almost always cheaper to access a book on a mobile phone than in print). According to a report by Deloitte 7 in the United States, about 50% of laptop, tablet and smartphone users are buying more e-books than they use.  Reading on mobile phones is not a future trend; it is a reality here and now. It is not strange to find women, men, young people, even children, reading stories from their portable devices. A very positive trend if we believe that the lack of access to reading produces a direct effect on the level of culture and literacy of any territory. Mobile devices are a medium that provides encouraging figures with regard to bringing knowledge to all possible persons and places. The findings of the study by UNESCO 8 are significant and positive. For example, they found that people read and enjoy more when they do it from mobile devices.  Another important study worth mentioning to get an idea about how we’re accessing Reading was Ofcom 9 called Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes Report 2014. According to their presented findings, people between 16 and 34 years of age do not consider newspapers to be a channel to access information; instead they use their mobile phones. 

5. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002274/227436e.pdf 6. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?News1C1.44452#.U5192v1_vE0 7. http://www.deloitte.com/assets/DcomUnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/TMT_us_tmt/us_tmt_somd7_summaryinfographic_031913.pdf 8. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002274/227436e.pdf 9. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/media-literacy/adults-2014/2014_Adults_report.pdf

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Figure 2.1 Media Use by Age Ranges

2 7 15

4

4

2 8

15 20

18

1 7

4

15

14

17

22

36

8

11 2

9 13 3

26

48 32

12

7

47

42

3

58

68

69

34

Listens to the radio Connects through computer/ laptop / netbook / tablet / smartphone Uses smartphone Watches Television

13 Total

Reads newspapers / magazines

16-24 years 25-34 years 35-44 years 45-54 years 55-64 years 65-74 years 75+ years

Source: Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes Report 2014.

Reading on mobile devices is a growing trend in several senses. Nowadays not only books are downloaded, but also the news is increasingly read on portable terminals. According to a Pew Research study 10 in January of 2014, 90% of the adult population in the United States has a cell phone and 58% has a smartphone. These figures have contributed to the increasingly frequent access to news from a mobile device. The rapid and relentless promotion of the technological revolution in our mobile devices has been a hard blow for the erstwhile untouchable media. With every passing day our phones are leaving the information giants such as the press as a thing of the past.  The findings11 of a study developed by the University of Oxford and the Reuters Institute indicate how 37% of the respondents use their smartphone to access the news on a weekly basis, and the 20% do so on a tablet. These data also reflect the increase in the frequency that news is being read and in the devices we use for this purpose.  Consequently we are dealing with multi-platform users, increasingly frequent in our societies, and whose profile changes dramatically. The average age of smartphone users that used to be 25, is now

10. http://www.pewinternet.org/data-trend/mobile/cell-phone-and-smartphone-ownership-demographics/ 11. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Reuters%20Institute%20Digital%20News%20Report%202014.pdf

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Figure 2.2 Growth Access to News Smartphones - Selected Countries Crecimiento en elin acceso a noticias en on smartphones - países seleccionados 60

Percentage

50 40 30 20 10 0

Denmark

France 2012

Germany United Kingdom Italy 2013

U.S.

Japan

2014

44 years. As for tablets, continuously more affordable prices have attracted young people to this device. Without doubt, while smartphones and tablets are increasingly used for reading news, computers are experiencing a downward trend regarding the number of people who use them for this purpose.  Now more than ever people have a wide variety of devices that allow them to access the news section on the Internet. The study reveals that 39% of users say they tend to use two or more digital devices per week, and 20% said that what they used most is the mobile device.  The intensive use of smartphones and tablets for online news complements the use of computers, which is still the most important device.  The data show an increase over the last year: in Spain, 58% of the sample uses a mobile device, 12% higher than before, and 37% use it to read the news, compared to 31%.  Among all the analyzed countries, Denmark is the one that has the highest rate of weekly news reading on smartphones, with a 57%. In contrast, Japan remains with the lowest percentage, only 26%. The countries that have experienced the biggest growth in the last year were Germany with 10% and France with 14%.  One of every three individuals uses a tablet, and 20% of them use it to check up on the news section; a significant increase from previous figures. Additionally, Denmark continues to lead the increase in those numbers compared to other countries, from 28% to 36%, followed by the UK that went from 17% to 24%. Surely one of the main reasons is that, in these countries, tablets are now being sold at affordable prices, even in supermarkets, reaching to a greater number of potential users.  If in 2013 the percentage of people who used more than one digital device to read the news was 33%, in 2014 it increased to 39%. Also, it is worth commenting that the people who use more than three technological gadgets have gone from 9% in 2013 to 12% in 2014. 

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Such is the growth of the reading the news on mobiles that Nick D’Alosio, an eighteen year-old, developed Summly, an iPhone application that summarizes the news in short paragraphs that are adjusted to the phone screen. Users who download it can determine and customize the app depending on the articles of their interest and follow a link to expand the information on any article that catches their attention.  Summly helped solve issues of how to display of articles on the smartphones, something that drew the attention of some celebrities like Yoko Ono, Ashton Kutcher and the Hong Kong millionaire, Li KaShing, who sponsored D’Alosio in 2012; and they were not wrong. In March 2013, Summly was sold to Yahoo for thirty million dollars.  At first, D’Alosio had a more philanthropic purpose than economic, according to him, Summly was designed because he realized that his generation failed to read news in a traditional manner. What is certain is that it gave a great result and the mobile application turned him into one of the youngest millionaires (not inherited), in history, in addition, he was awarded as “innovator of the year” in New York city by the Wall Street Joumal and included in Time magazine in its edition dedicated to the one hundred most influential teenagers of the world, among many other recognitions.  Thanks to mobiles this young man became famous and, also, thanks to it we are changing our way to read, learn, investigate, relate, etc.; but where are we going, what more are we going to change? Well, trends indicate that by the year 2022 our mobile devices will substituteTV 12 itself, according to a new study by Irdeto.13 It is interesting how, analyzing data from the young people between 18 and 24 years, the use of TV has dropped in favor of a greater use of tablets and smartphones for the streaming of videos.  Our mobile devices have changed the way in which we consume information and access the content on the network. Every time we are more the ones who stream videos from our portable screens and the trend seems to indicate that this will continue to increase. A study conducted by the International Data Group IDG,14 reveals that the consumption of video is mostly linked to the mobile devices. The 75% of the respondents used smartphones, and 87% the tablets to view online videos.  A major feature of the study is the rapid growth of the corresponding figure for the consumption of online video from smartphones. In 2012, 61% of people used their mobile phones to play videos; in 2013 it was 74%. In addition, the mobile is replacing the traditional media. 50% of respondents said they use their tablet to read the news, thereby replacing the printed press.  Access to online video content via mobile devices does not depend on the age or job position. 92% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 view video content using their tablets, while 91% of senior executives (CEO/Presidents/Managers) also access videos from their devices. Both audiences

12. http://www.puromarketing.com/12/18945/consumidores-creen-2022-dispositivos-moviles-sustituiran-television.html# 13. http://irdeto.com/news-and-events/new-research-from-irdeto-reveals-53-of-americans-believe-mobile-devices-will-replace-tv-sets-in-thenext-eight-years-.html 14. http://idgknowledgehub.com/putting-spotlight-mobile-evolution/2014/06/26/

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also have access to all kinds of content from platforms such as YouTube, however, executives are paying closer attention to the promotional videos than the young.  The growth and strength of the video traffic on mobile phones is due to a series of factors but, if we were to highlight some of them, we wouldn’t hesitate to mention the increasing number of devices with video reproduction capability and the rising production of content that can be seen on them. This clearly contributes to the growing and progressive data traffic from mobile devices and is changing the way that we use television, film or video in general.  We now have faster and easier viewing capabilities on multiple devices, thanks to the continual progress of the networks. Our behaviors are “evolving” and every day we get access to videos from all kinds of mobile devices, which also evolve to offer better resolution, bigger screens and better streaming quality. According to the Mobility Report,15 the substantial growth of video traffic in mobile devices does not seem to stop, on the contrary, it is expected to be 13 times greater by 2019 compared to the video traffic reported in 2013.  The growth and the positioning of video on mobile devices is leading to the development of new technologies focused not only on the quality and speed of the image, but also on the capacity to handle the very large data traffic volume being generated. During 2012 (according to a report by Deloitte16) 17% of digital users in the United States viewed video via streaming platforms through online subscriptions, in 2013 the figure rose to 32%. This increase in the video consumption trend will surely stimulate improvements in compression and processing techniques that will make new ever more powerful devices available in the near future.  The mobile evolution is having a profound impact and effect on consumers and businesses. Having our devices constantly On (turned on-connected) is also providing many unprecedented opportunities for brands and advertisers to develop a new type of relationship (closer and effective) with clients and consumers. We are becoming more increasingly multitaskers. 61% of respondents said they use another device at the same time as the tablet, and 58% used another while using their smartphone.  Spain is the second European country with the largest number of online purchases made via tablet or smartphone according to data from showroomprive.17 The trend is the result of another decisive data: it is the European country with the largest number of smartphone users, according to the report18 of Accenture and AMETIC (Asociación de Empresas de Electrónica, Tecnologías de la Información, Telecomunicaciones y Contenidos Digitales). We are more mobile than anyone else and our main screen of entry to the Internet is already a mobile screen, thanks to the extraordinary growth of the applications.  Additionally, our markets are made up of users and customers that have made the proximity screens their access of reference for socialization, work and leisure. They are part of their daily life: in bed, or

15. 16. 17. 18.

http://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2014/ericsson-mobility-report-june-2014.pdf. http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Industries/media-entertainment/digital-democracy/index.htm http://www.elmundofinanciero.com/noticia/21714/tendencias/el-comercio-mobile-en-espana-supondra-el-45-de-las-ventas-.html http://www.dealerworld.es/smartphones/espana-el-pais-europeo-con-mas-usuarios-de-smartphones

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when they travel (75% of passengers use smartphones and tablets during their trip); and will be the first path to access TV in 2017 (or sooner), according to the Juniper Research19 report.  In this context, the contrast between the maturity of the society and markets, on the one hand, and the delay of the majority of firms in designing a multi-channel strategy that takes into account the asynchronous reality as the new framework of relationship with clients, on the other, are surprising. Another report, in this case Spain Digital Future in Focus20 submitted by ComScore, gives a hard diagnostic: “The reason for the slow development of Spanish ICT companies is because they are unable to adopt the specific requirements that mobile technology demands.”  Currently, 22 million active users in Spain21 download 4 million applications for mobile phones, tablets and televisions. The App Date, benchmark in app-related events in Spain, points out in it last report22 the importance of applications as a tool for network communication and, in particular, for the economy. According to data of Visionmobile, in 2012 they generated a revenue of $10 billion and approximately 529,000 direct jobs (60% of which are developers) for a total of 790,000, taking into account the ones created by the whole applications economy. In 2013, these figures were surprisingly exceeded. In fact, “Applications and mobile apps” are among the top ten tech trends for the Gartner23 consultancy company in the 2014.  And the last finding, predictably, is that tablets will outnumber computers in sales, according to International Data Corporation24 (IDC), with a projected growth in sales of 27.8% in 2013 and a situation that points to an overall takeover of the computer market as 2015 comes to a close.  This reality changed the equations of the formats, the typologies and the results of the relationships between user-clients and companies. It gives the former a new leading role as they have a convenient and increasingly user-friendly that enables them to compare, contrast and comment on brands and services. This produces a shift in the center of gravity: the client is first and foremost a user, and above everything else, a citizen. The civic-social dimension of the commercial relationship acquires a new relevance. We have applications that stripped the corporate realities, that makes them transparent (with or without their collaboration) and this allows for new insights and opinions. Loyalty is won or lost every day in what was sold but, above all, in what is being done, in how it is done... and in why. Meanwhile, our companies seem to be anchored in the comfortable and conservative belief that they first must have a website and then engage in social networks. They do not understand that it is not just a question of having, or presence... but of being, to have the capability to relate in the new digital ecosystems. 

19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

http://www.juniperresearch.com/reports/mobile_content_business_models. http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Presentations-and-Whitepapers/2013/2013-Spain-Digital-Future-in-Focus http://www.benjalink.com/el-uso-de-apps-en-espana-se-duplica-en-un-ano/ http://www.theappdate.es/iv-informe-estado-apps-espana/ http://www.ticbeat.com/tecnologias/las-10-tendencias-tecnologicas-para-la-empresa-en-2014-segun-gartner/ http://www.xataka.com/tablets/los-tablets-ya-superaran-a-los-ordenadores-en-ventas-este-final-de-ano-segun-idc

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In fact, the majority of large companies already have their own mobile application; if they don’t, they are already behind. The most frequent is to develop native applications directly for mobile devices, but many are unaware of the so-called responsive design, i.e. webs sites capable of adapting to the device from which the user accesses, be it a tablet, a smartphone or a computer.  In other contexts, the sense of urgency is much clearer, also for the internal work of companies. Apple says 95% of Fortune 500 companies has already deployed the iPad as a working tool or are in the final phase of incorporating it; and 89% of the Global 500 already use it on a regular basis. Experts point out the mobility and flexibility as their best assets, in addition to the availability and the ubiquitous access to information. The advantages are obvious: increased productivity and creativity; real-time and upto-date information; a better visualization of catalogs and portfolios; operating systems and quality connections; and less weight and easier transport. The “company tablet” is the first step to understand “the market and society tablet.”  Failing to react in time and with determination to face this situation might involve a competitive disadvantage for the companies, making them lose customers by the inability to meet the new types of mobile and social relationships that they demand. The responsive design, integrated strategies (on and off line), the design and the multi-platform concept with transmedia narrative will be a must in the communication. But it is not only new media and formats, but also new forms of communication and another language. We are talking about a new organizational culture, a new model of the relationship that bets on the creative talent, user experience and the creation of content in these spaces. It also involves the ability to create intelligent communities of users and customers around the whole cycle of the creation, financing, marketing, use, and recycling process of any product or service. The mobile company does not only mean incorporating technology; it has to deal with changing an entrenched mindset.  Mobile devices are part of our everyday life; they connect us with the environment and with others. But they are not only devices that play an essential role in the current way to communicate or work, they can also simplify almost every area of our lives, even help us to confront our more personal vices. Smoking, for example. Mobile applications25 that encourage, help and motivate smokers to quit are already available.  This is the case for Kwit. This application, which has been translated into several languages, helps people quit smoking using the technique of “gamificacion,” a practice (more and more prevalent in product and service marketing) that employs game mechanisms to enhance motivation, concentration, effort, or loyalty, creating attractive experiences that inspire action and engage the user. By playing, the participant can earn points, progress and unlock objectives while receiving information about the health and money-saving benefits they have achieved over a given period of time.  Health is an example of how mobile devices continue to penetrate and form part of most of the relevant aspects of our lives. It is indisputable that, since their creation, our devices have had such an impact that they have succeeded in making radical changes in the way we live. 

25. http://www.abc.es/tecnologia/top/20140508/abci-apps-aplicaciones-dejar-fumar-201405071321_1.html

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Currently, through applications developed for our smartphones, we can have easy access to a tool that helps us fight and have some control over certain diseases, for example: diabetes, a pathology that is on the rise26 in Spain. It is precisely in our country where technological alternatives have been developed to cope with this disease: “Diabetes Pharma” and “SocialDiabetes” are applications that not only accurately report risk levels in patients with diabetes, but also serve as a guide about the appropriate drugs to treat it. The SocialDiabetes initiative, and its social system/application, that allows patients to manage their disease was awarded the WSA UNESCO mobile health prize in 2012.  Just as health is an important issue in our lives, relationships could not be left behind. Some applications developed for our smartphones, can also give us a hand in the delicate task of searching for our “significant other.” LinkedUp! was designed based on the famous network of professional contacts Linkedin. This is an application that enables conversations between users after two of them have clicked the “like” button.27 Its creator, Max Fischer, a twenty-eight year old, chose to bet on LinkedUp! when he realized that people no longer used network contacts solely for professional reasons, but were also interested in getting a date. Linkedin shows the typical résumé information, but on dates questions come up that go beyond the workplace environment.  Mobiles seem to be in and touch all aspects of our life in society. To get an idea of the massification of their current use, you only need to check the data relating to the U.S. market. The American citizen has an average of four digital devices, that can be smartphones, tablets, computers, smart TV and videogame consoles, and spend around sixty hours a week using their content,28 which is more time than a full-time job.  How do they do it? The answer lies in the main characteristic of the different devices: mobility. Thanks to the new-generation devices, tablet, and smartphones, it is very easy for the user to use and view content in them, no matter where they are or that what they are doing at the time.  And, despite the economic crisis in some countries, such as Spain, smartphone and tablet sales have been going up. And why shouldn’t they, when they are part of most of our everyday activities. The development of mobile Internet has penetrated into our societies in such a way that it even replaces banks and currencies, and drives the generation of business for a new future.  The study Trends in Consumer Mobility Report,29 conducted by the Bank of America, revealed that nearly half of all Americans (47%) do not spend a day without access to their smartphone and many consider them more important than coffee or television. In fact, if their phones were snatched from them suddenly, they would give up alcohol or chocolate to get them back.  The study intended to gather information on trends and mobile banking behaviors in people with smartphones and bank users, because there are more people who use financial services from

26. 27. 28. 29.

http://www.abc.es/tecnologia/top/20140505/abci-aplicaciones-control-diabetes-201405051515_1.html http://www.abc.es/tecnologia/moviles-aplicaciones/20140508/abci-linkedup-ligar-linkedin-201405072145.html http://www.lavanguardia.com/tecnologia/moviles-dispositivos/20140331/54404504682/cuatro-dispositivos-d igitales-citizen.htm http://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/sites/bankofamerica.newshq.businesswire.com/files/press_kit/additional/2014_BAC_Trends_in_Con sumer_Mobility.pdf

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their own devices every day. The Bank of America currently has more than 15 million active mobile users who access their accounts from their devices more than 165 million times a month. It is a staggering number and it is on the rise. Recently (for the first time) the monthly number of logins from mobile banking has surpassed the number of logins made from online banking. The report revealed that nearly two-thirds (62%) of consumers have attempted to try out mobile banking at least once and, among those who do use it, 31% said that they entered their account at least once a day, while four out of five (82%) access to their accounts at least once a week.  Mobile phones have changed the way we live on a daily basis and that includes how we access the banking system. The largest bank in Kenya is already a phone. M-Pesa, the service of the Safaricom operator (with support from Vodafone), allows you to receive and send money with the mobile phone. Through text messages credit can be uploaded or received and then exchanged for money. The operation is simple and is performed with an M-Pesa network agent who receives a commission. The network spans the entire country. The initiative has been a success among the Kenyan people, in large part, due to the lack of benefits and pensions for the elderly population that inhabits the villages and whose income consists mainly of the money transfers made by the young who work in the cities. The mobile phone in Kenya has been an effective alternative to face a banking system that is costly to the user, late in coming (it began to develop in the nineties) and focused on providing its services in the urban centers, forgetting the rural areas. With the arrival of M-Pesa (2007), Kenyans no longer depend on unreliable systems such as entrusting a bus driver to deliver the money, or expense options such as the postal system. If mobile phones serve as a means to make the lives of its inhabitants simpler in Africa, in several countries in Latin America, where mobile devices already outnumber the population, mobile phones are also powerful allies to combat extreme poverty, lack of education or the few opportunities for quality jobs. In Latin America it is more common each day to find projects that take advantage of the information and technological advances to which people have access, particularly those they literally hold in their hands, to help eradicate poverty and cope with the constant and various challenges constantly involved in development.  According to the report Maximizing Mobile30 by the World Bank, the mobile phone and communication offer us great opportunities to advance the development of our societies. “The developing world is more mobile than the developed world,” said the report, which is understandable. Mobile phones provide access to basic education, disseminate information on health topics, make payments or stimulate citizen involvement in democratic process.  It is therefore not strange to find contests for participants to develop applications to track public funds and know how the government spends our taxes. In addition to applications that seek to confront cor-

30. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTINFORMATIONANDCOMMUNICATIONANDTECHNOLOGIES/Resources/IC4D-2012-Executive-Summa ry.pdf

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ruption, others serve to fight domestic violence or to allow everyone the opportunity to access to a decent bathroom.  And it is no coincidence that mobile phones are the target of so many viewpoints for the development of the countries in that hemisphere. According to the study Mobile Economy in Latin America 2013 31 more than half of Latin Americans have access to a mobile device, that is to say, there are nearly 320 million subscribers; a considerable number if the goal is to generate impacts and send messages through that channel. And the trend will continue on the rise because the region has one of the highest growth rates in the world and, according to estimates, smartphones are expected to double their market share by 2017.  Countries such as Chile, Guatemala, Argentina and Panama have more mobile users per hundred inhabitants than Switzerland or the United Kingdom, and, in the year 2012, the mobile market in Latin America accounted for 3.7% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) while in Europe the figure reached 2.1%.  The importance of mobile connectivity is increasing: banks, networking, relationships, governments, and civil society... everything seems to be found on our devices. Currently it is not surprising that some young millennials32 say their mobile device is more important than their deodorant or toothbrush.  We live in an age of technological boom. We connect constantly in a variety of ways and from various devices, and many are already called “digital omnivores” because they own laptops, tablets and smartphones and use them all to use and share content. One device is not enough to “devour” everything that is out there; what used to seem far away, is now just a click away. This need for constant connectivity has also changed our consumer habits; according to a report delivered by  Deloitte33 (2012), many of us live in the digital distraction. More than 80% of mobile users multitask from their devices while watching television.  The number of digital omnivores in the United States has been increasing:34 from 26% in 2012 to 37% in 2013. Of this group, 90% were in social networks, and accessed them between 4 and 20 times a day. We are becoming digitally “hungry” with an appetite that does not seem to be sated. 

2.1 The Growth of “Visual” Social Networks Use Along with the growth in the number of smartphones with Internet connectivity, there was an increase in the use of social networking (up by 37% in 2013 compared to the previous year).35 A consid-

31. http://gsma.com/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/GSMA_ME_LatAm_Report_2013.pdf 32. http://www.abc.es/20121103/sociedad/abci-millennials-generacion-201211021603.html 33. http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/TMT_us_tmt/us_tmt_somd7_summaryinfographic_031913.pdf 34. http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-United States/Local% 20Assets/Documents/TMT_us_tmt/us_tmt_digitalomnivoreinfographic.pdf 35. http://www.lavanguardia.com/tecnologia/moviles-dispositivos/20140331/54404504682/cuatro-dispositivos-digitales-ciudadano.html

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erable part of the users is made up of young people,36 very active in social platforms and whose favorite network seems to be Instagram. This application, which allows you to share and comment on photos (now also short videos), already has 200 million users37 and more than 55 million photographs are published each day on average.  Pinterest (of particular use by women) and Snapchat, where uploaded and shared images are “destroyed” between one and ten seconds after their viewing, are the other successful visual networks. Image-based content contributes to increased reading, visibility, and sharing. The possibility of doing so from our mobile phones is what also increases their prominence.

2.2 The Digital Marketing Industry As mentioned earlier, social networks, if used intelligently, can have a great impact on the success of the companies that use them. Along with the increase of the mobile devices and our commitment to them, the digital marketing industry is also on the move. The trend indicates that online searches using tablets and smartphones are on the rise. Behind us now is the era in which this was done mainly from our computers. Information is the natural resource of the 21st century and we access it through our mobile devices.  A study of Marin Software38 (NYSE: MRIN) indicates that consumers are increasingly using the mobile devices to search, buy and pay. Marketing and advertising firms know this and currently have their eyes on this area and investing efforts.  To better understand the size of this industry, it is necessary to analyze the study Mobile Search Advertising Around the Globe: 2014 Annual Report,39 that examines the data on advertising of the largest global industries, that, as a whole, spend more than six billion dollars a year in advertising during the search. The study focuses on thirteen countries and regions of the world, such as the United States, China, England, Japan and the Eurozone.  The results are, in the first place, that mobile devices and tablets will be much more commonly used than computers, and that is why they already represent the main route to reach the consumer. Secondly, advertising during an online search is more effective if the user is using a mobile phone connection rather than a computer.40 We can definitely affirm that we’re living in the middle of a mobile device boom as it, is becoming the dominant channel thanks to the fact that consumers feel more comfortable with their smartphones and tablets, even in e-commerce. For this reason, companies will continue investing more and more to ensure that their advertising reaches the consumer through these new channels. 

36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/ http://www.puromarketing.com/16/19703/takes-over-as-social-preferred-adolescents.html http://www.marinsoftware.com/resources/news/paid-search-advertisers-jump-onboard-ipad-and-tablet-devices http://www.marinsoftware.com/resources/whitepapers/mobile-search-advertising-around-the-globe-2014-annual-report http://www.marinsoftware.com/resources/news/mobile-on-pace-to-surpass-desktop-paid-search-on-google-by-end-of-2015

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Not all applications were born as a response to a demand for a new “mobile” audience, although in most cases, they were. In the field of social networks, especially, there are exceptions. Instagram, for example, was born solely to be used in mobile devices, and there was no access to it through the computer. To attract more users, it created a PC version, although still very closely linked to the mobile phone, given that the photos can only be posted in this way. According to a Nielsen study on the most commonly used applications of the year 2013, Facebook was in first place, Google Search second, Google Play in third and YouTube fourth. Instagram ranked seventh, gaining ground in the mobile market, while Twitter only made it to tenth place.41  Anyway, regardless of the type of application that we use, a study42 of the North American market revealed that the owners of mobile phones spend 86% of their time using applications and only 14% on the Internet. The applications where they spend more time are Facebook with a 17%, followed by instant messaging applications (9.5%) and Youtube (4.5%).43 There is no doubt that, at this rate, inserting ads will generate more advertising revenue in mobile devices than in web pages. 

2.3 Mobile Marketing In the current context, described in this chapter, it is easy to understand that classic marketing has also evolved always in search for new formulas to be more effective.44 Making the advertising message not only reaches the consumer directly, but at the same time render results for the company is the objective of mobile marketing, which moved more than 60 million euros last year, in Spain alone. And that refers to all stages: from design to execution of marketing techniques through mobile devices or tablets.45  The Morgan Stanley Mobile Internet Report,46 that took into account the spread of the mobile device in many aspects of our lives, already pointed out 2014 as the year for the final settlement of Internet on mobile users.  Given that many companies have already adapted their way mobile marketing, new formats have been born, such as Rich Media47 (ads with pictures or videos that require some type of interaction by the user) that improve the quality of content on mobile devices. They also diversify the typology of advertising to attract the user’s attention. For example, to advertise its new shoe, Adidas Philippines opted for a Rich Media in the form of an interactive game, directly on the mobile screen that stimulated the user-player to test the different types of soil and conditions to which the shoe adapted.48 

41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48.

http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2013/tops-of 2013-digital.html http://blogfurry.com/bid/109749/ Apps-Solidify-Leadership-Six-Years-into-the-Mobile-Revolution http://tecnologia.elpais.com/tecnologia/2014/04/02/actualidad/1396432432_528063.html Mobile marketing as a strategy of communication http://www.icono14.net/ojs/index.php/icono14/article/view/292/169 http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/05/31/motor/1338477471_797219.html http://www.morganstanley.com/about/press/articles/4659e2f5-ea51-11de-aec2-33992aa82cc2.html https://support.google.com/richmedia/answer/2417545?h1=es http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/advertising/15918.html

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Now, an advertising insertion has a CTR49 (Click-Through-Rate) higher if it is viewed from the mobile device rather than a website and even higher if it is displayed through an application. Analyzing our behavior as smartphone users is an important factor for the future of marketing. Each day we download millions of applications and consume certain types of content.  Large companies are seeking to develop specialized tools to create effective commercial inserts in applications, for example, Facebook and its Mobile Ads for Apps (Ads for Mobile Applications), a form of advertising that, predictably, should increase advertising revenues this social network. And time has proven them right.  The social network for excellence presented the results50 for the second quarter of 2014; in total, Facebook’s income was $2.91 billion during that period, a figure that exceeded the expectations of expert analysts who had expected maximum earnings of $2.81 billion. The positive increase in the numbers of Facebook was made possible, in large measure, thanks to the growth of investment in publicity given to its application designed for mobile devices. The evolution shows that the ads are working very well while the income payments and other sources are increasingly relegated to the background.  Our mobile devices continue to be the spearhead of Facebook to enhance their income. While the desktop reminders have remained more or less stable since 2012, the revenue growth through the mobile notifications has been spectacular.  Facebook is still surprising in terms of the numbers on its financial statements and statistics reports on users in 2014. What is no surprise, coincidence or luck, is that the social network has been and continues to devote efforts to develop strategies focused on reaching out to more people to position themselves on their phones. Of the 2.676 billion dollars collected by the company for advertising, between April and June 2014, 62%51 corresponded to mobile advertising revenues. That’s a quite considerable increase if you think that, in the same period in 2013, mobile advertising contributed 41%.  Facebook will continue to look at it and make efforts for the mobile phone, and it is not surprising. According to the statistics analyzed based on the data collected by social network itself, each year there are more users that seem to use the mobile as the only means to connect, overturning many developers’ forecasts.  The effort in designing a Facebook application for mobile devices and the importance in this regard deposited by its founder, are bearing fruits. 

49. CTR (Click-through-rate) is a way of measuring the success of a campaign of online advertising by the number of users that gave one click on a specific link. 50. http://investor.fb.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=861599 51. www.elmundo.es/tecnologia/2014/07/24/53d0486622601d71738b457d.html

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The figure of publicity in its mobile business model exceeded by far the one of the PC, not to mention other new ideas that have begun to yield results, as the possibility of direct purchase within news feeds.  Financially, the social network seems to be better than ever; between April and June of 2014, it obtained a net profit of $791 million, a figure that has doubled compared to the benefits of the same period during the previous year.  The path that Facebook chose, working hard to enter in the mobile sector, seems to be the right one. Thanks to this bet and, of course, the publicity insert in our devices, Facebook obtained a considerable increase in their total income and got the attention of those who still had doubts about the future of advertising: our new environment is tablets and smartphones.  The growth of the social network in this sense, and its contribution to the increase in mobile advertising, has reached the point where the advertising leader on the Internet, Google, has showed the first signs of concern, taking into account forecasts that indicated a significant drop in the portion of advertising controlled by this company, which would have seen its percentages reduced from 50% in the 2012 up to 40% in this year. While, according to market studies made by eMarketer, Facebook in 2012 controlled the 9% of the advertising for apps, ended this year doubling that figure to reach 18.4%. Taking advantage of its favorable situation, and seeing its share of advertising compared to the decrease in Google, Facebook decided to go ahead, not lower their guard and wagered on a new project for mobiles. It is called: Facebook Audience Network, the new competitor of Admob Google that basically a network of advertising for mobile devices that puts the advertisers in contact with the exposure platforms, represented in this case by the applications. Thanks to the huge volume of user data that Facebook has at its disposal, the advertiser can decide (guided by the preferences of those registered to the social network) the target audience they want to reach in order to maximize their advertising efforts and obtain better results in their marketing campaigns.  After its debut in the Stock Market, Facebook seems to be winning over the investors’ trust. It has positioned itself as a safe bet to face the future and its challenges, and the most challenging of all is moving the Internet business to mobile devices. It appears to be on the right track. Zuckerberg said he was satisfied with the results of the second quarter in 2014. The community of this social network continues to grow and has high hopes for the future, when more parts of the world will be connected to the network.  Facebook investors thought so too when they saw how before the closing of the New York Stock Market session, the shares raised significantly up to 3.93% and the value of the securities stood at 73.98 dollars.  The geographic map shows how most of this social network’s revenues, $1.308 billion in the last three months of 2014, came from Canada and the United States. Europe came in second with 824 million, followed by Asia with 431 million. In terms of numbers of users of the social network, these also continue to rise; 1.317 billion active users each month and 654 million active users each month from their

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mobile phones. This increase may not seem very substantial when compared to the increase of the figures in mobile advertising, but it is definitely a step ahead with respect to the 1.276 billion and 609 million of the first quarter of that year.  The question everyone is asking is whether mobile marketing is as effective when compared with companies’ investment in it. According to a study by Azullo,52 conducted in the United Kingdom with 1,014 users, only 21% said they remember any mobile ad of the last six months. This gives us pause about what still has to be done in order to attain a good level of effectiveness in this new type of marketing.  In spite of the doubts regarding mobile marketing, mobile advertising was projected to grow 64% in 2014, primarily due to time that users spend using applications, and secondly to the increase in the number of users.53 

2.4 Mobile E-commerce Mobiles phones are objects that are always with us and from which we get to make all kinds of online searches. We have changed our desktop computers and laptops for the convenience of a device at our fingertips. Using it is part of our daily habits, we feel comfortable with it. This could be the basis for the increase in purchases via mobile devices: browsing during our breaks, we find something that interests us, and the purchase process is so simple that we think, “why not?” More than 80% of purchases via mobile phones are not planned: it is a reality, mobile devices make us buy more.54  Today, mobile payments have a very high percentage: represent 19.5% of the total payments. This figure has grown 12 points over the same period last year.55 However, there is a stark difference between purchases depending on the operating systems installed in phones. iOS users buy up to five times more than Android users. This is mainly due to the fact that the companies are aware of the different purchasing powers and obviously choose bet for those who have more. So more apps are developed for the type of customer willing to invest more.56 

2.5 How We Get Around The deep penetration of mobile telephony offers governments, companies and institutions the possibility to monitor the interactions of citizens and make use of these data to improve utilities planning and management. Transport operators, for example, can adapt their supply better according to the demand. In this way, they can save costs in forecasting processes and time for the users. 

52. 53. 54. 55. 56.

http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2012/09/26/mobile-advertising-easily-forgotten-according-new-research/ http://mashable.com/2014/01/03/native-mobile-advertising/#ab.IeAp4daqE http://tecnologia.elpais.com/tecnologia/2014/01/15/actualidad/1389790545_209958.html http://www.reasonwhy.es/actualidad/mobile/los-pagos-online-desde-smartphones-y-tablets-aumentan-un-12-nivel-mundial http://www.xatakamovil.com/movil-y-sociedad/ios-sigue-destrozando-a-android-en-compras-desde-el-movil

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IBM Research57 created AllAboard, a system designed to optimize the planning of a public transport network from mobile phones data. The mobile phone location data are used to infer the origin-destination flows in the city, which then becomes the amount of passengers on the existing transport network. The system has been tested for the city of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, with the goal of improving the SOTRA transport network. In theory, the changes proposed by the model could reduce travel times by ten percent.  The citizens’ mobile phones become a source of information that helps to co-design, co-produce and optimize the services offered by companies and governments that make our lives easier in society.  People (passengers) are becoming more and more comfortable when using the mobile phone and the downloaded applications to pay for transportation services. Companies know this and have been adapting the payment forms to more simple and much more efficient ways rather than from the computer. It is part of the past to print airline or train tickets; you no longer need to stand with a taxi in front of an ATM machine so that you can pay in cash. Processes associated with our habits of consumption have been simplified.  An example of this very innovative new technology applied to the public transport network is myTaxi. This is an application that allows you to pay the taxi ride directly with the mobile device, thanks to the myTaxi Payment system. Uber, a startup that connects passengers with drivers, also owes its great success to the mobile application. The users themselves, using their devices, evaluate and rate the drivers and their services.  RENFE also chose to take a step forward in the mobile era, offering the possibility to passengers to show the ticket directly through the phone screen.58 In addition to having all the basic information on the trip, this virtual card can be opened without a connection to the Internet; it is automatically updated and sends alerts. This new way of having a ticket with us also avoids the need to look for it in our mobile. Through the system of geolocation, the application automatically shows us the RENFE card when we approach our train station.  Going out of town, you can reach your destination and without having a package of activities, contract all the ones that you would like to do on site. This is how the Vice President of TripAdvisor, Julio Bruno, viewed the tourism horizon, during the VII Tourism Leadership Forum of Exceltur. What‘s more, he says that 9 of every 10 tourists have changed their habits when planning their holiday due to the convenience of being able to do this from their mobile phones once at their destination.59 From the mobile phone, before beginning a trip or other type of journey, anyone can download tourist guides, city maps, public transport schedules, different types of tickets, etc., and the majority of them free of charge.

57. http://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/view_group_subpage.php?id=4491 58. http://www.renfe.com/viajeros/movilidad/billete_passbook.html 59. “9 each 10 Tourists Hire their Activities by the Mobile” http://www.lavanguardia.com/viajes/20140122/54399409145/turistas-utili-zan-movil-para-contratar-actividades-en-vacaciones.html

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Chapter

3

The Cases of Spain and Latin America: Leaders in the Number of Mobile Users 3.1 Spain

38

3.2 Latin America

43

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3.1 Spain According to the latest survey on technological equipment by the National Institute of Statistics,1 in 96.1% of Spanish households there is, at least, one mobile phone, while in only 78% there is a land line. As expected, this gap is growing every year; in 2012, 95.6% of households had a mobile phone registered and 79.2% had land lines. A year earlier, in 2011, those numbers were 94.7% and 80.1%, respectively.2 It is an unstoppable phenomenon; as years go by, the amount of mobile phones increases and land lines decrease. However, the percentage of Spanish households with mobile phones does not match current use—which is at 94.2%—which indicates that a there is a considerable amount (and a worrying one) of idle devices. When segmented by autonomous communities, we can see that Madrid and Murcia are those using mobile phones the most, while Melilla is found in the last place in the ranking, 5 points below the average. In Spain, migration to smartphones is almost a fait accompli. At the beginning of 2012, 60% of mobile phones renewed were smartphones,3 but Hugo Liria, the Spanish representative of Kantar Worldpanel, the consumer habits experts, recently said that “practically all phones bought in Spain today are smartphones, with an average price that is much higher than phones sold a few years ago.” 4 The penetration of smartphones in Spain is 66%, as indicated by the study 2013 Spain Digital Future in Focus conducted by ComScore.5 Spain is the country with highest penetration of smartphones in

1. Survey on Equipment and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Households (TIC-H). Year 2013. Available at http://www.ine.es/ prensa/np803.pdf 2. Survey on Equipment and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Households (TIC-H). Years 2012 and 2011. Available at http://www.ine.es/jaxi/menu.do;jsessionid=443776C8508A40079D3C4c$0234D4C54.jaxi02?type=pcaxis&path=%2Ft25/p450&file= inebase&L=0 3. Six of every ten mobile phones are smart (April 3, 2012). Kantar World Panel. Available at http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/es/Noticias/ smartphones-febrero2012. 4. 1.55 billion euro to change mobile phones in 2013 (February 19, 2014). Kantar World Panel. Available at http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/es/ Noticias/cierrecomtech2013 5. ComScore published study “2013 Spain Digital Future in Focus” (April 15, 2014). ComScore. Available at http://www.comscore.com/esl/Prensay-Eventos/Comunicados-de-prensa/2013/4/comScore-publica-el-estudio-2013-Spain-Digital-Future-in-Focus-El-Mercado-Digital-Espanol

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southern Europe; and the last study by Google España puts it in 15th place in the world ranking, above France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Japan and Finland. Smartphones are today the most used device to access the Internet. The Mobile Broadband (BAM) has become the telecommunications service with the highest growth; in the second quarter of 2013 the proportion was 60.4 lines for every 100 Spaniards.6 Looking at the data from the 14th edition of the report La Sociedad de la Información en España [The Information Society in Spain] by Fundación Telefónica, we can see that during 2013 almost 9.5 million users registered.7 With this data, Spain is placed in the top position of the European rankings. In 2010, 13% of Spaniards were already connecting to Internet using their mobile phone, while the European average was 8%. Today, 57% of Spanish mobile phone users have a connection, compared to 49% of Europeans. But, what makes Spain a leader in smartphone ownership as well as the development of mobile Internet? Essentially it is cultural. It’s the social nature of Spaniards that explains their passion for mobile phones; the constant accessibility with regard to mobility is very attractive to a society that is open and sociable and spends a lot of time outside in contact with others. In addition to that, the climate and geography of the country, as well as the high rate of domestic migration, are all factors that motivate the development of the mobile industry. The average age to have access to a mobile phone in Spain is 11,8 but it is at 13 when the phone really becomes popular; in second year of middle school mobile phones start to invade classrooms. According to the National Institute of Statistics, 63% of the child population (ranging from 10 to 15 years old) owns a mobile phone, and girls more than boys by 8 eight points.9 It is worth mentioning that in 2013, the number of mobiles among minors decreased compared to the previous year, which can be explained in that parents now understand 3 risks they and their kids face when using a mobile phone prematurely: access to inappropriate content (violence and sex), unwanted contact by strangers (here we can include the threat of grooming10 and sexting)11 and the possibility of excessive spending (whether voluntarily or involuntarily). Nevertheless, usage habits among minors consist mostly of videogames and social networks. As with most technological devices, the penetration rate of the smartphone varies depending on age; it decreases as the age of users increases. While 85.6% of young people between 18 and 24 have a

6. La Sociedad de la Información en España 2013 (2014). Fundación Telefónica. Available at http://www.fundaciontelefonica.com/arte_cultura/ publicaciones-listado/pagina-item-publicaciones/itempubli/261/ 7. Ibid. 8. “Estudio sobre hábitos seguros en el uso de smartphones por los niños y adolescentes españoles” (2011) Inteco and Orange. Available at http:// acercadeorange.orange.es/UpImages/files/2206/estudio_smartphones_inteco_f14d138ffde09e29842e5a765.pdf 9. Survey on Equipment and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Households (TIC-H). Year 2013. Available at http://www.ine.es/ prensa/np803.pdf 10. Grooming refers to conduct and action deliberately taken by an adult for the purpose of gaining a minor’s friendship, creating an emotional connection, with the objective of decreasing his/her inhibitions, which then may lead to sexual abuse or the child obtaining erotic material. 11. Sexting is sending erotic or pornographic content via mobile phones. It is a common practice among young people and is growing among teenagers.

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smartphone only 21.5% of adults who are 55 years old or older has one.12 However, we can say that within a few years a generational change will even out these numbers. We Spaniards check our mobile phone 150 times a day on average; we wake up with its alarm, we take it into the bathroom, we eat and go to sleep with it—one out of five young people admit to connecting when in bed.13 We have become addicted to mobile phones; so much so that recently the Anxiety Disorders Specialized Studies Center (CEETA) has warned us about the increase of nomophobia: almost 53% of Spanish users tend to feel anxious when they “lose their phone, run out of battery or credit, or when they don´t have coverage.”14 As expected, young people are the most prone to suffer from it: 71% of them cannot even imagine leaving home without their smartphone,15 since their mobile phone represents an extension of their own body. Attachment to mobile phones is such that 88% of Spaniards admit to accessing their phones several times a day.16 But why has it become so important? What do we do with it? It has been some time since the mobile phone stopped only being a tool for communication; with the smartphone we also entertain ourselves and get informed. We use it, mostly, to navigate the Internet (80%), to read electronic mail (78%), to check social networks (70%) and to obtain information (58%).17 The idea that Spaniards are still using the mobile phone to communicate is supported by the fact that by the end of 2013, Spain had already exceeded 20 million WhatsApp users, the same number of German users—a country with almost twice as many inhabitants.18 Spanish users represent no less than 6.6% of the total of WhatsApp users in the world. Furthermore, attention is drawn to the explosion of Telegram, a new instant messaging service that challenges the comfort zone of WhatsApp. At the beginning of 2014, the company said that it was growing at a rate of 200,000 users per day.19 This particular reality, marked by the power of instant messaging applications, has its origin, on one hand, in the previously mentioned high penetration of smartphones and, on the other hand, in the high prices applied to SMS by Spanish companies for years. According to the study by ComScore,20 during 2012, watching videos using a mobile phone in Spain

12. “¿En qué países hay más smartphones?” (February 27, 2014). El Periódico. Available at http://elperiodico.com/es/noticias/tecnologia/mapapenetracion-disponibilidad-smartphone-2013-3137938 13. La Sociedad de la Información en España 2013 (2014). Fundación Telefónica. Available at http://www.fundacion.telefonica.com/es/arte_cultura/publicaciones/sie/sie2013.htm 14. “Nomofobia: 53% de los españoles sufre ansiedad o miedo si olvida el móvil en casa” (May 31, 2014). ABC. Available at http://www.abc. es/20120531/tecnologia/abci-nomofobia-miedo-irracional-salir-201205311712.html 15. La Sociedad de la Información en España 2013 (2014). Fundación Telefónica. Available at http://www.fundaciontelefonica.com/arte_cultura/ publicaciones-listado/pagina-item-publicaciones/itempubli/261/ 16. “Our Mobile Planet: España” (2013) Google & Ipsos. Available at http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/omp-2013-es-local.pdf 17. Ibíd. 18. “¿Por qué WhatsApp tiene 20 millones de usuarios sólo en España?” (August 8, 2013). ABC. Available at http://www.abc.es/tecnologia/movilesaplicaciones/20130808/abci-whatsapp-millones-201308081547.html 19. “El crecimiento explosivo de Telegram: 200,000 usuarios nuevos diarios en España y 20,000 en Latinoamérica” (February 5, 2014). El Economista. Available at http://www.elconomista.es/tecnologia/noticias/5516280/02/14/El-crecimiento-explsivo-de-Telegram-150000-usuariosnuevos-diarios-en-España.html#.Kku85GwYPxMTRse 20. ComScore publishes the study 2013 Spain Digital Future in Focus (April 15, 2013). ComScore. Available at http://www.comscore.com/esl/Prensay-Eventos/Comunicados-de-prensa/2013/4/comScore-publica-el-estudio-2013-Spain-Digital-Future-in-Focus-El-Mercado-Digital-Espanol

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grew 164%. This reflects the global tendency of audiovisualization of content—expressed, for example, in the 6 billion hours of video reproduced monthly on YouTube21—. Sixty seven percent of Spanish smartphone users watch multimedia content using their devices, but not all types of content: for watching movies we still prefer TV, but for short videos, like those on YouTube, we tend to prefer the computer (61%), tablet (51%) or smartphone (50%).22 The smartphone has also become the second screen par excellence; in fact, 6 out of 10 users admit using it while watching TV.23 We use it to look up information about actors or movies, to buy products advertised during breaks or simply to share or comment on what we are watching in social networks. Lately, applications designed exclusively to promote interaction between the viewer and televised content have been introduced all over the world, referred to as second screen apps. The act of watching TV has become social, it has gone from the individuality of the living room to the plurality of the networks; and since technological advances have turned us into multitaskers, today we have the capability of doing both things at the same time. However, if they had to choose, 30% of smartphone users would give up TV rather than their mobile phones,24 so we can actually say that mobile phones may be the second screen today, but may become the first and only screen someday. The growth of mobile phones has also revolutionized electronic commerce. Smartphones have become our main personal shopper; through our mobile phones we research products, find out opening hours and locations of stores, and we compare prices. A study conducted by Google España reveals that 80% of smartphone users admit to having used their phone to look for a product or service. Although the smartphone still is, most of the time, a springboard for shopping using our computers or directly in stores—which has been called webrooming—in 2013 25% of users purchased something directly with their smartphones.25 At the same time, when the point of purchase is the smartphone, we can see on one hand an increase in impulsive purchases, which is different from planned purchases, a characteristic of computer based purchasing; and on the other hand, high shopping recurrence, since two out of three smartphone shoppers gives into temptation, at least once a month.26 In addition to revolutionizing e-commerce, mobile phones are capable of revolutionizing physical commerce. The practice of showrooming has been growing, which consists of looking at and trying on an item in a physical store and then purchase it online, where one can continue comparing prices and taking advantage of discount coupons. While it is true that in Spain showrooming is still in its embryonic state (it represents only 4% of the total purchases),27 there is no doubt it is a rapidly growing phenomenon and a business opportunity for online companies, and a threat for those that are not online.

21. YouTube statistics. Available at http://www.youtube.com/yt/press/es/statistics.html (consulted on 6/5/2014) 22. La Sociedad de la Información en España 2013 (2014). Fundación Telefónica. Available at http://www.fundaciontelefonica.com/arte_cultura/ publicaciones-listado/pagina-item-publicaciones/itempubli/261/ 23. “7a oleada del estudio Televidente 2.0” (2013) The Cocktail Analysis. Available at http://tcanalysis.com/blog/posts/el-62-de-los-internautasusa-otro-dispositivo-a-la-vez-que-la-television-de-manera-habitual 24. “Our Mobile Planet: España” (2013) Google & Ipsos. Available at http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/omp-2013-es-local.pdf 25. Ibid. 26. Ibid. 27. “El ‘showrooming’, la nueva moda de Internet” (November 9, 2013). Expansión. Available at http://www.expansion.com/2013/11/09/empresas/ digitech/1384023872.html

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2013 was also the year for the method of payment called direct billing: the system that charges purchases made using a smartphone to your phone bill. Even though its use is more common in societies that have less access to banking services, in Spain the system is used by many young people who still don’t have access to other methods of payment, such as credit or debit cards. The overwhelming development of mobile technology brought along the apps market. The third edition of the Informe sobre las apps en España,28 conducted jointly by The App Date and Microsoft, says approximately 4 million applications are downloaded every day. If we talk exclusively about downloads on mobile phones, Spaniards seem to prefer applications for communication, email and social networks. A smartphone has an average of 24 applications installed, while a tablet normally has around 31. Even if 2013 was the take-off year for tablets, the smartphone is still the mobile device par excellence. Worldwide, the sale of smartphones is five times that of computers and four times that of tablets; and it is estimated that in 2017 the difference will be even greater.29 In Spain, the tendency is similar; it seems that, in times of crisis, the sale of mobile devices is the only one maintaining an upward curve. According to the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica [National Institute of Statistics] 96.1% of Spanish households have at least one mobile, 45.1% a computer, 54.3% a laptop, and 16.3% a tablet.30 In the last few years, the growth of tablets has been impressive: in 2013 alone in Spain, 3.8 million tablets were sold, while laptops registered only 1.7 million sales.31 The International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasted a growth of 78.9% in the sales of tablets for the period 2013-2017, surpassing the sales of smartphones32 in the Unites States. Regardless of the notable fall of the sales of computers, the usage behavior of Spaniards says otherwise: the computer—laptop or desktop—is the favorite device for productive uses—to study or to work. This means that there is no competition with smartphones or tablets but complementarity. What mobile devices do is provide new possibilities and increase technological reach. It is, without a doubt, paradoxical that Spanish companies have not adapted themselves to this “mobile phenomenon” yet. A study done by Tecnilógica in 2013 analyzed online strategies of companies forming the IBEX 35, with the purpose of describing the online development of those who should, a priori, have an advantage. However, the research concluded that, on one hand, less than 50% of companies had, back then, mobile applications and therefore, only two companies (Grifols and Amadeus) had adaptive web sites (or Responsive Web Design); in other words, sites capable of adapting to the

28. APPS report (2013). The App Date. Available at http://madrid.theappdate.com/informe-apps-2013/ 29. La Sociedad de la Información en España 2013 (2014). Fundación Telefónica. Available at http://www.fundaciontelefonica.com/arte_cultura/ publicaciones-listado/pagina-item-publicaciones/itempubli/261/ 30. Survey on Equipment and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Households (TIC-H). Year 2013. Available at http://www.ine. es/prensa/np803.pdf 31. “La venta de ‘tablets’ sube un 68% en España y salva al mercado del PC” (January 23, 2014). Cinco Días. Available at http://cincodias.com/cin codias/2014/01/22/tecnologia/1390421558_103791.html 32. “Tablet Shipments Forecast to Top Total PC Shipments in the Fourth Quarter of 2013 and Annually by 2015, According to IDC” (2013). International Data Corporation. Available at http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerld=prUS24314413

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kind of device the users are using to access.33 According to the researchers, the inclination of companies towards creating native applications is insufficient, and “not reacting in the face of this trend could decrease considerably the competitive capacity of Spanish companies.”34 However, the opportunity companies have at their disposal is not limited to developing applications: mobile advertising is seen by 83% of Spanish smartphone users; ads seen when visiting a new website (45%), using an application (40%), watching a video (31%), among others.35 Likewise, it’s been noticed that traditional advertising (TV, outdoors, printed media, etc.) motivates smartphone users to look for the product using their devices.

3.2 Latin America In 2012, the Latin American mobile market experienced a growth of 9% and generated a revenue of 107 billion USD dollars, which has turned it into the second fastest growing market and the fourth largest in the world, behind Asia Pacific, Europe and Africa, but before North America and Middle East. In 2012, the Latin American mobile industry generated more than 3.7% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the region, much higher than that produced in this industry in more developed countries.36 In mid 2013, Latin America had 631.8 SIM connections,37 which meant a penetration rate of 104% (more phones than people), almost twenty percentage points higher than the world rate. But if we consider mobile phone subscriptions—the most appropriate variable to analyze the mobile industry—the figure goes down to 318.7 million, accounting for 52.27% of the total population of the region. Towards the end of 2013, 114 million smartphones were registered in Latin America.38 The penetration rate of the region is around 20%, a percentage just barely lower than the world average.39 According to the last wave by Our Planet Mobile by Google, Mexico has a smartphone penetration rate of 37%, Argentina 31% and Brazil 26%.40 Moreover, during 2013 the sale of tablets in the region (the other big mobile device) increased 171% resulting in a revenue of 4.5 million USD in just the last quarter.41 In Brazil there were 8 million sold

33. Response Web Design. “Tendencias en el desarollo móvil en empresas” (2013) Tecnológica. Available at http://tecnilogica.com/es/system/ files/TEC_InformeRWD.pdf 34. “Amadeus y Grifols son las dos únicas empresas de Ibex con web adaptadas a móviles y tablets” (September 30, 2013). Europa Press. Available at http://europapress.es/turismo/agencias-ttoo/noticia-amadeus-grifols-son-dos-unicas-empresas-ibex-we-adaptadas-moviles-tabletas-20130930175143.html 35. “Our Mobile Planet: España” (2013) Google & Ipsos. Available at http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/omp-2013-es-local.pdf 36. “Economía móvil América Latina 2013.” GSMA y Boston Consulting Group. Available at http://gsmamobileeconomylatinamerica.com/ 37. A SIM card (acronym in English for Subscriber Identity Module) is a removable smart card used in mobile phones and HSPA or LTE modems that connect to an USB. SIM cards safely store the service code of the subscriber used for identification in the network, allowing for changing the line from phone to phone simply by changing the card. 38. “Una radiografía del mercado móvil de Latinoamérica 2014” (March 11, 2014). Latin Link. Available at http://latinlink.usmediaconsulting.com/ 2014/03/una-radiografia-del-mercado-movil-de-lationamerica-para-2014/?lang=es 39. “Economía móvil América Latina 2013.” GSMA y Boston Consulting Group. Available at http://www.gsmamobileeconomylatinamerica.com/ 40. “Our Mobile Planet: España” (2013) Google & Ipsos. Available at http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/omp-2013-es-local.pdf 41. “Tablets: ¿Las elegidas por los latinoamericanos?” (May 241 [sic], 2014) T y N Latinoamérica. Available at http://www.tynmagazine. com/378696Tablets-Las-elegidas-por-los-latinoamericanos-note.aspx

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(119% more than in previous year) and in 2014, another 10 million were estimated; in Mexico it was 4.3 million in 2013 and the forecast for 2014 predicted, at least, 6 million.42 According to the last report on the region by ComScore, 8.1% of Internet users access the web using their mobile devices. In June 2013, there were 164 million subscriptions for mobile broadband services in Latin America representing 27% of the total population;43 specialists predict a rapid growth in coming years. If we perform a socio-demographic analysis of mobile Internet users, we find that almost half are younger than 24 years old, a quarter between 25 and 35, and the remaining quarter are over 35 years old. Most of them have a high education level, 71% with bachelors degrees and 25% completed high school.44 Latin America is a very heterogeneous region and the 20 countries that form it do not have the same mobile phone development. Brazil alone, for example, has 112.5 million subscribers, which is more than a third of the total subscribers of the region; this, in turn, makes it the fifth largest mobile market worldwide. After Brazil, comes Mexico in number of total subscribers, which is curious case because it has 46.3 million subscribers, but a penetration of 39% (the lowest in the region), indicating a country’s GDP is not directly proportional to the penetration rate.45 Chile leads both penetration rankings, SIM connections (142%) and subscribers (67%), although its neighbor Argentina has similar numbers. In an attempt to illustrate the Chilean super-abundance of SIM connections, we note that in a typical family (four members) we can find six phones. Other numbers show the same conclusions, such as those from Emerging Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technology,46 a study by Pew Research center, from February 2014. This study indicates that 91% of the Chilean population has a mobile phone and out of that percentage 39% are smartphones. With this data, the report—which includes 24 emerging countries—places Chile in the fourth position of mobile penetration and second in smartphone penetration in the world, only surpassed by Lebanon (45%). At the other end of the rankings is Haiti, with the worst penetration of active SIMs in the region (63%) and the second worst penetration of subscriptions (42%). If we analyze Latin American mobile phone use, we can see that the penetration of mobile applications is 28.5%47 and most of the downloaded applications are free. Even though downloading games has become popular in the region (80% of smartphone users admit having downloaded an application for games recently),48 ComScore says that Latin America is one of the areas where instant messaging

42. “Una radiografía del mercado móvil de Latinoamérica 2014” (March 11, 2014). Latin Link. Available at http://latinlink.usmediaconsulting.com/ 2014/03/una-radiografia-del-mercado-movil-de-lationamerica-para-2014/?lang=es 43. “Economía móvil América Latina 2013.” GSMA y Boston Consulting Group. Available at http://www.gsmamobileeconomylatinamerica.com/ 44. “6 cifras cruciales para correr campañas móviles en Latinoamérica” (February 10, 2014). Latin Link. Available at http://latinlink.usmediaconsulting. com/2014/02/6-cifras-cruciales-para-correr-campanas-moviles-en-latinoamerica/?lang=es 45. “Economía móvil América Latina 2013.” GSMA y Boston Consulting Group. Available at http://www.gsmamobileeconomylatinamerica.com/ 46. “Emerging Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technology” (February 13, 2014). Pew Research Center. Available at http://www.pewglobal. org/2014/02/13/emerging-nations-embrace-internet-mobile-technology/ 47. “Una radiografía del mercado móvil de Latinoamérica 2014” (March 11, 2014). Latin Link. Available at http://latinlink.usmediaconsulting. com/2014/03/una-radiografia-del-mercado-movil-de-lationamerica-para-2014/?lang=es 48. “6 cifras cruciales para correr campañas móviles en Latinoamérica” (February 10, 2014). Latin Link. Available at http://latinlink.usmediaconsulting. com/2014/02/6-cifras-cruciales-para-correr-campanas-moviles-en-latinoamerica/?lang=es

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applications are used the most. Brazil is, worldwide, the country that uses instant messaging the most: a Brazilian user spends an average of 8.5 hours monthly.49 Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Chile are also in the Top 10 of the ranking regarding time spent instant messaging. The leading application is, without a doubt, WhatsApp, even though lately it’s been threatened by other applications such as Line and Telegram. The rapid ascent of Line was motivated by the possibility it offers to make free calls and video-calls. The Line director for the Andean region explained: “Although we cannot give an exact number at the moment, we can say that Line has grown rapidly in Latin America, especially in Colombia, Venezuela and Peru, as an instant messaging application. We definitely have a good and solid presence on the continent and we are considering investing to keep growing in the region.”50 The other competitor for WhatsApp is Telegram. The company managed to position itself as the messaging service that protects the privacy of its users. At the beginning of 2014, Telegram had 20,000 new users every day in Latin America, with Chile, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico as the countries with the most growth.51 Furthermore, Latin American mobile users are passionate consumers of social networks. Most Facebook and Twitter users, who in addition spend more than 10 hours a month in social networks,52 prefer to log into their accounts using mobile devices, either their phones or tablets. Latin American smartphone users are also more prone to taking photos and recording videos than in other regions; in Venezuela, for example, 3 out of 4 users regularly take photos and videos, and in Chile, to a lesser degree, audiovisual productions by mobile users is also significant (67%).53 In Latin America the use of the mobile phone to obtain information is also pretty widespread. In Venezuela, 39% of users say they use their phones to search for political information. The information on this country—audiovisual creation and political information—has a close relationship and this has been proven in the recent wave of protests, where activists used their mobile phones to photograph police abuses and then shared them in social networks. The mobile industry has also been an important contributor to democratization of technology and reduction of the digital gap. In this sense, prepaid service was the catalyst of mobile market growth, in

49. “De WhatsApp a Line: la batalla de la mensajería instantánea en Latinoamérica” (May 30, 2013). Mediatelecom. Available at http://www.mediatelecom.com.mx/index.php/tecnologia/virtualidad/item/43752-de-whatsapp-a-line-la-batalla-de-la-mensajeria-instantanea-en-latinoamerica 50. “Line, aplicación que compite con WhatsApp, gana terreno en Latinoamérica” (February 21, 2014). El país Colombia. Available at http://www.elpais. com.co/elpais/economia/noticias/line-aplicacion-compite-con-whatsapp-gana-terreno-latinoamerica 51. “El crecimiento explosivo de Telegram: 200,000 usuarios nuevos diarios en España y 20,000 en Latinoamérica” (February 5, 2014). El Economista. Available at http://www.eleconomista.es/tecnologia/noticias/5516280/02/14/El-crecimiento-explosivo-de-Telegram-150000-usuariosnuevos-diarios-en-Espana.html 52. Yearly report “Futuro digital Latinoamérica” (2013). ComScore. Available at http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press-Releases/2013/5/com Score-Releases-2013-Latin-America-Digital-Future-in-Focus-Report 53. “Emerging Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technology” (February 13, 2014). Pew Research Center. Available at http://www.pewglobal. org/2014/02/13/emerging-nations-embrace-internet-mobile-technology/

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such a way that in 2012 it still represented 80% of the total SIM connections.54 Regardless of all the progress made, the mobile industry still has to improve its coverage and access in rural and isolated communities. It is not all good news and positive forecasts within the Latin American market; a big concern is the high rate of thefts and illegal commerce of mobile phones—or cellular phones, as they are known in many Latin American countries. The countries with the highest rates are Argentina, where approximately two million phones are stolen every year, and Brazil, where one million are stolen but the population is five times that of Argentina.55 The concern is such that in the last meeting of the Mobile World Congress, Brazilian mobile operators signed an agreement with the Brazilian government, committing to offer a system for blocking stolen phones and in this way discourage thefts. The mobile industry in Latin America has grown at a dizzying pace for more than four years. Now the region faces a maturity stage, where an annual growth rate of 4% is expected for the next few years.56 For 2017 expectations are for the subscriptions penetration rate to increase 58% (today at 52%), smartphone penetration to reach 44% (20% at present) and broadband connections to reach 500 million (today, there are approximately 200 million). With strict regard to economics, it is foreseen that in 2020 the industry will generate 4.5% of the region’s GDP.57

54. “Economía móvil América Latina 2013.” GSMA y Boston Consulting Group. Available at http://www.gsmamobileeconomylatinamerica.com/ 55. “Brasil sella un convenio para evitar el robo de un millón de móviles al año” (February 25, 2014). El País. Available at http://tecnologia.elpais. com/tecnologia/2014/02/25/actualidad/1393348103_358830.html 56. “Economía móvil América Latina 2013.” GSMA y Boston Consulting Group. Available at http://www.gsmamobileeconomylatinamerica.com/ 57. Ibíd.

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4

Radical Changes 4.1 Mobile Phones: the New Public Space for Communication

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4.2 Generating Information

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4.3 News Consumption

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4.4 Quality-of-Life Enhancing Communication

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4.5 Saving Time

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4.6 New Ways to Communicate

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4.7 An Extension of Ourselves

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4.8 Less Is More

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From Communication We Have Gone to Games, to Real-Time Conversation, to Information Search, to Music and Videos. We Are Consumers but Also Opinion Leaders, from the Palms of Our Hands With the rapid growth of smartphones, our way of talking to each other has changed. Free instant messaging applications have made us leave the SMS-era behind. Twenty years have gone by since the first SMS was sent,1 and since then the use of phones has been revolutionized. Phones have gone from being devices to make phone calls, to smartphones that allow communication (free or at low cost) through the Internet, including social networks.2 Today, according to studies conducted by Cisco,3 mobile traffic has grown 81%, and it will continue an unprecedented increase in growth until 2018. Thanks to smartphones the use of Internet for communication has become ubiquitous at all times and places, even if with different applications.4 The applications usage scene is different in every country, and some apps that are popular in some regions are not used in others. In fact, from a global point of view, this type of messaging is split among different applications (for example, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype or BlackBerry Messenger).5

4.1 Mobile Phones: the New Public Space for Communication A study conducted by Pew Internet,6 based on the results obtained by interviewing 2,252 adults in the Unites States,7 analyzed the most-performed activities using mobile phones in the year 2013. The top three were sending and receiving messages, accessing the web, and sending email. The fourth was using applications: interestingly, this percentage has gone up from 22% in 2009 to 50% in 2013. In fact, along with devices, communication technology used to access the Web using our mobile phones keeps reinventing itself. The last frontier is the 4G, and it appears that users are paying more and more attention to this new capacity of connectivity when purchasing new smartphones. In fact, a

1. http://www.latercera.com/noticia/tendencias/2012/12/659-496439-9-20-anos-del-primer-mensaje-de-texto-telefonico-enviado-el-3-dediciembre-de-1992.shtml 2. http://www.xatakamovil.com/movil-y-sociedad/el-sms-cumple-20-anos-repasamos-la-historia-y-el-declive-de-los-mensajes-de-texto 3. http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/white_paper_c11-520862.html 4. http://www.puromarketing.com/12/19212/trafico-movil-experimentara-crecimiento-precedentes-hasta-2018.html# 5. http://www.xatakamovil.com/movil-y-sociedad/la-mensajeria-en-moviles-esta-muy-repartida-whatsapp-domina-bbm-resurge 6. http://www.pewinternet.org/2010/06/18/adults-and-cell-phone-distractions/ 7. http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/09/19/cell-phone-activities-2013/

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study on the British market, done by the operator EE (Everything Everywhere Limited)8 reveals that people’s priority is being able to access applications and social networks easily. Additionally, the study indicates that users who own a mobile device with a fourth-generation communication system are increasing the use of apps, due mostly to connection speed.9 The fact of being connected to the network anywhere or under any circumstance represents a very important factor in everyday life for many people, regardless of the differences among them. When analyzing the Spanish market, regardless of the economic crisis and the relative decrease on phone expenditures in general, as well as other services from operators, users are still spending more every day on mobile broadbands. According to a study by the Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones,10 thanks to 3G and 4G, operators’ revenue increased 45% in the last six years, while expenditures on phone calls and other services decreased. In other words, users considered being connected at all times a vital priority in comparison to the rest of smartphone uses.11 This new priority affects both the personal and professional life of every individual. What interests us is to be able to share information at all times, and even better if it is at the same time and place something is happening. Everybody, thanks to these new mobile devices, is capable of making public any information we find interesting, create trends, start political debates, or simply express our opinion easily and effectively. Journalists, for example, who need real-time information and want their op-ed opinions and articles to be read from anywhere, and obviously as directly as possible and open to commentary. Twitter and other apps that create their own media have thus become obvious allies in broadcasting—and capturing—new information to new audiences. The same could be applied in politics. In this manner, the radical change presented by mobile phones is the configuration of a new public space, which most of the time replaces the expression of ideas, information and debates formerly at physical meeting points, thus multiplying the number of participants. This new space includes social networks as well as forums created by and for the users, where first-hand information can be sent, and received.

4.2 Generating Information The mobile technology we use every day, with access to the Web and different applications, cameras, and video recorders, has transformed our society. The way we share information, not just written information but multimedia, grants us the possibility to control most of it and share information massively in just a few minutes, without the need to look for a new audience every time or to have advanced technological knowledge. In this sense, change has been towards the immediacy of news.

8. 9. 10. 11.

https://explore.ee.co.uk/our-company/newsroom/4g-drives-surge-in-christmas-shopping-on-the-go http://www.xatakamovil.com/conectividad/los-britanicos-utilizan-la-conexion-4g-ante-todo-para-acceder-a-las-redes-sociales http://www.eldiario.es/turing/moviles_y_tabletas/conectados-internet-pagamos_0_221178555.html http://mobileworldcapital.com/es/articulo/442

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Information shared by amateurs is now valuable. Even if most of the time the video quality is poor, what matters the most is the how fast the news spreads, thanks to eye-witnesses in the “physical” place of the event, located via GPS, which is used for authenticating the source. That’s why the media use this type of information more and more every day and send it directly to the audience. Nevertheless, that immediate information is normally analyzed later and can generate pieces with deeper explanations. In his book, Convergence Culture, Professor Henry Jenkins, director of Comparative Media Studies Program of MIT, made a detailed analysis of the changes happening in the mainstream and grassroots media (meaning, those produced from the citizenry, thanks to content generated in real time by users/enthusiasts, not professionals) and he concluded that there will not be an apocalyptic encounter between different kinds of media any time soon that would lead to the end of mass communication as we know it today. For Jenkins, the power of the mainstream media is based on information amplification, while that of the grassroots is based on diversification. It is likely and desirable that both kinds of media will converge.

4.3 News Consumption News adapts to modern times: according to a study by Pew Internet, because of the ever growing use of mobile phones and tablets for getting in on the latest developments, news has been transforming along with its audience. Today, the user wants to read the latest news, short and with shocking headlines, easy to share and save for a second reading at another time. The media is currently undergoing a process of constant search to facilitate the reception of information by users. That is why there are even more options to “personalize” a news portal. In addition to that mentioned in the previous paragraph, users have the possibility to personalize a portal by selecting the news of interest to them and to their social networks contacts, while at the same time synchronizing with them. Some examples of these “news aggregators” are Flipboard, Prismatic or Pocket, gaining in popularity among mobile phone users. This new way of being informed through a selection of news drew the attention of big companies like Yahoo, which launched a new news service called Yahoo News Digest, a new application that selects the subjects of the day by means of algorithms and editors. Also, the media is including new ways for finding news in their portals. One of them is a follow, not only of a specific person but also a subject, and the use of personalized alerts according to personal interests. Ben Huh, the CEO of Cheezburger Network, a group of 50 web sites, said we have to look for “the best way to read news on our mobile phones,” and that is what he’s doing with his last invention: Circa. An innovating news aggregator12 that has its own editorial team specializing in summarizing news to be read quickly with a mobile phone. It also allows for subscribing to a specific subject and being notified when there’s news about it. 12. http://mobileworldcapital.com/es/articulo/442

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4.4 Quality-of-Life Enhancing Communication The opportunities smartphones have to offer are numerous. Thanks to them we are connected constantly, and we all agree that communication is the foundation of society and its economic development, by providing a more efficient and effective way to work. Its use is significant in terms of our health and wellbeing. Not only because you can warn of any type of problem from any place, but also especially because it allows us to download apps that help us count the calories we’ve consumed, the miles we’ve walked, or even to record or notify our doctor about our medications. In fact, these types of applications have grown 29% more than the rest.

4.5 Saving Time People are increasingly using their mobile phones as if they were proper laptops thanks to their connectivity to the Web. This factor in turn has had a great influence on society, for example, the change of format of many web sites, which invest in new applications in order to make navigation more enjoyable for users. This way of navigating the web translates into an enormous time saver for users, since they can read news or do any search, send email or reserve a flight, while they are, for instance, going somewhere or standing in line. Because of its versatility and simplicity, many people today consider the mobile phone indispensable in their life.

4.6 New Ways to Communicate Furthermore, it’s funny how the original function of the phone (making and receiving calls) is one of the least used today. Its use has changed completely along with the changes in our society. Thanks to the many free instant-messaging applications currently offered, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, among others, mobile phones have gone from being an oral to a written means of communication. We have included in our everyday life verbal expressions and abbreviations that simplify the existing language, created by the shortness and speed of text messages. In fact, there were two reasons for the use of text messages: economy, since it costs less, and practicality. Lastly, we have to highlight communication through multimedia content: photos, videos and audios, which thanks to social networks like Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook, among others, are of ever-growing importance.

4.7 An Extension of Ourselves We all know our mobile phone is part of our daily life and have experienced at least once, even if only for a few hours or a day, having forgotten it, leaving us with a strange and unpleasant feeling when we don’t have it. The mobile phone has become, like it or not, a mirror of ourselves; it reveals our personality.

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A study done by the Australia-based Monash University, in Melbourne, has brought out the effects of personality when it comes to using mobile phones.13 This study, published in the magazine CyberPsychology&Behavior,14 has examined the mobile phone usage habits of 195 people over 18 years of age. Results showed a clear relationship between personality and the way we use mobile phones. For example, people with low self-esteem tend to look for certain reaffirmation in the use of mobile phones, and conversely, extroverted people use it to interact with friends and colleagues. The fact that a mobile phone can reflect our personality is a radical change that is produced in this technology era. Today it is an object of such personal and personalized use that users identify with it. In addition, to be in constant communication in any place, gives people a feeling of safety, given that they can call, write, locate, or be located in case of emergency. This feeling substitutes that of feeling controlled, which only a minority perceive as a negative aspect associated with their connection with their device.

4.8 Less Is More Today, when we think of a mobile phone, it’s hard to consider it as simply the object that allows us to communicate through calls and messages, like the first phones. The mobile phone we know now goes far beyond that; it incorporates functions from other devices, some of which may even be unknown to us. The biggest advantage is that these functions can be personalized for each user, thanks to application stores and the end result of these technological advances is the combination of many devices into a single one. At the moment, the mobile phone allows us to plan a better route, listen to music, pay without a card, translate into multiple languages, take photographs, edit, and upload them onto the web, as well as to participate in a debate, read the news, and share or generate information. A group of functions that adapts to our own world world in such a way that the only thing we need is simply our mobile phone.

13. http://www.tendencias21.net/La-personalidad-determina-nuestra-forma-de-usar-los-moviles_a578.html 14. http://www.liebertpub.com/overview/cyberpsychology-behavior-brand-social-networking/10/

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Chapter

5

From Face-to-Face Politics to “Pocket” Politics

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It is an undeniable fact that mobile devices have now become one of the most important ways to connect to the Internet. Little by little, we have been abandoning our computers and are starting to migrate towards a new way to access information. Smartphones, with ever more functions and applications, have become an indispensable device for our life in society. It is an extension of ourselves we use to function effectively and deal with many aspects of our daily lives. Politics is one of these aspects, and an essential one that must be adapted to this unstoppable reality while starting a rapid digital migration towards new vital environments. It must be understood that mobile technology can enable better organization and communication for political action in this society of knowledge, otherwise anything we do will end up being a belated imitation, without authenticity and senseless. A priority of this era is to understand that mobile life is one of the most important cultural challenges that democratic politics must react to if it wants to really be useful and practical for citizens. Having the first application or service in the competition to see who is more modern and digital is fine, indeed it’s more than just fine. Competition motivates. But what really matters is understanding the nature and deep transformation in the model of relationships derived from mobile life. In other words, new technologies let us reach and participate within different groups of people and activities, without having to be there personally (which we couldn’t do very often before due to a lack of time). That does not mean those activities have lost value, quite the contrary. We really only engage with those we really like, interest us, and to whom we truly feel like giving our opinion and helping make things happen. Perhaps the political parties (most of them) do not take advantage of this new way to interact, and still rely on often passive members who meet once a week at party headquarters where they discuss subjects of general interest. We believe this is the root of the problem, i.e. the lack of participation and the loss of a sense of belonging to a political party. Only active members participate (going to the meetings), but that doesn’t mean they give their best.

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It’s up to political parties to find ways to be flexible in their actions by looking for new alternatives for participation (via web, electronic campaigns, sending messages, proposing ideas…), and not only to current members but to all sympathizers. In that sense, the successful experiences of American and British campaigns must continue to be studied carefully. Elections are always an opportunity to explore and take new steps, but this is not about experimenting with media-based criteria in order to compete in a kind of race for digital hits. The mobile phone gives us an autonomous capacity for political activism outside the political parties. It is a powerful tool for citizens to raise their voice, to gather and spread their message, transitioning from online activism to real-world action. The development of mobile Internet gives us the chance to go from spectators to become players; to inform and share the reality as we see it; to participate in the creation of public opinion by sharing our information through our mobile phones in real time. We have, at our fingertips, a powerful combination of data processing, networks, geo-localization and visualization… that offer us possibilities of narratives with a new approach and decentralized leading roles. Citizens’ cameras have become the new surveillance cameras. The technology most of us carry in our pockets every day is being used to support social action, offer information, empower, initiate civil action and demand a good government. People use mobile phones to improve their surroundings, including politics and services in the country. Socialization today is mobile, digital, and viral. We mobilize for causes we feel as our own. We are part of a whole, and thanks to smartphones we create networks, relationships, news centers. The best part of this new mobile revolution is that we can all be “political,” but not necessarily as a candidate or volunteer in a campaign. Every one of us becomes a connecting point and an information distributor. Thanks to the Web, we participate in projects, do things, give our opinions and support causes that rapidly become our own. We have the capacity to inform and publish stories from our “pocket” devices. We are eyewitnesses of what is happening and share it in real time. Our mobile phones allow us to express ourselves, create content, obtain and disseminate information. The Web we use in our phones is an open space; for now, no government, user or organization controls the Internet. The web connects the world. Today, more than 2.4 billion people are connected,1 a number that represents practically one-third of the world population, and it will keep growing. Google estimates 5 billion people will be connected by this year, 2015, provided mobile phones continue to be more accessible and inexpensive. With technology advancing and new communication models we have gone from face-to-face politics to advertising politics; from advertising politics to mass media; from mass media to the current 1. http://www.invertia.com/noticias/google-preve-duplique-numero-internautas-mundo-2921675.htm

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pocket politics, which is a new culture based on the transmission of ideas, a new organizational model where the talent of a “small” part is vital for creating good content that will be seen, and, better yet, shared. The fact that this is the new model for sharing and participating in politics comes as no surprise if we think that, for 2017, the information uploaded to the Internet using mobile phones will surpass all the information available on the Internet in 2012, and two thirds of that information will be video content. Some politicians also know how important this is, and they are working in that direction. Hillary Clinton supported the program mWomen, designed to make mobile phones accessible to 150 million women, breaking communication barriers and allowing them to have access to connectivity, security, independence, and economic opportunities and to establish a link between their homes and the rest of the world. Basically, the intention was to make their life simpler through mobile devices. Other politicians, along with their advisers in communication, understand that smartphones are a powerful tool that lets them communicate beyond the members of their political party and close sympathizers. That’s why it should come as no surprise that governments open bids for communication contracts that include mobile phone services (in 2014 Congress set the number for its last bid at 1,456,840 euros for services rendered up to 2016). Among the requirements for mobile services, they must include the latest technology and the network must be updated continuously in order to provide the most advanced functions in the sector at all times. Politicians and institutions, through mobile communication, can send and disseminate messages saving time and money that used to be invested in door-to-door volunteers. An example would be the QR codes. Created in 1994 by Denso-Wave, QRs are basically “bar codes” that store data and permit, through a mobile device with a camera or webcam, to read the code and show us the data contained in it. It’s a bar code for public use which, unlike regular bar codes that must be read with a laser, can be read with a camera, and it can take us to websites with concrete information regarding a specific subject or a candidate’s propositions. Mobile technology and its more than common use, is changing the way we communicate in all aspects of our daily life. Mobile phones have stopped being just phones in order to become a more versatile, global and powerful instrument than any other we’ve ever used. Increasingly accessible, light weight, comfortable and functional, these new devices adapt well to our life on the go. Politics, as an essential part of our life in society, must also adapt to this unstoppable reality. We should be able to find politics on our phone, just as we find people, work or leisure (games). We’re not implying that politics is a game, even though it seems like it sometimes. Playing, on the other hand, is a human activity that brings multiple benefits. This is why it is no wonder that political communication can find in this activity a new opportunity to attract the voters’ attention, create new dynamics for mobilization and activism, and reconnect with the new practices and ways of socialization among important sectors, especially young people.

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Some political groups have already realized that games are a new space for action and political communication because they are attractive. They are used by many generations and greatly accepted by young people. This “gamer generation” is dynamic and proactive; it expects immediate gratification experiences, where feedback, rewards and sociability are essential. Gamification is one of the ten most important tendencies related to technology in the world, and it refers to the “process of using game thinking and dynamics to attract an audience and solve problems,” says Gabe Zichermann, author of the book Game-Based Marketing. Gamification does not strictly refer to the creation of games but to the use of game elements in environments and applications unrelated to recreation. It can be explained as the intersection of marketing, psychology and technology, generating favorable scenarios that take advantage of our inner psychology to trigger specific behaviors. The application of these techniques is intended to motivate players by achieving goals and acknowledgment in their community. Most games use mechanisms that permit adding points, winning awards, aiming for goals and following paths, passing to the next level, or obtaining privileges and prizes, thereby turning a small yet attractive or routine activity into one that is proactive, dynamic and fun. The clearest and most successful example of this mechanism is the social network Foursquare. Thanks to the boom of social networks in marketing and their use as a vital means of communication within companies, games have become the new trend in business marketing. According to the technological analysis company Gartner, in 2015, 70% of businesses will apply this concept to their strategies. For many experts, one of the reasons for the need to become more dynamic and proactive, in the labor and consumer world, is generational change, since new generations have been exposed to interaction and bi-directional communication, which is obtained, for example, by videogames. Interactivity is growing in all sectors, especially with interactive video formats. An analysis by Nielsen2 showed that playing games from social networks has become the second most popular online activity in the Unites States. According to data published by Facebook, games are one of the main reasons users connect to the network. In the United States alone users spend approximately 407 million hours monthly playing games like Farmville, Cityville and MafiaWars. That’s why recreational and interactive dynamics has become an important part of communication and marketing strategies for companies. At the beginning of this year, the expert on gamification, Game Marketing, presented the results of the Estudio 2012: gamificación expectativas y grado de adopción en España3 [Study 2012: Gamification, Expectations and Level of Acceptance in Spain], which said that 52.34% of professionals interviewed intend to include gamification in some aspect of their organization or institution.

2. http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire.html 3. http://www.gamkt.com/descubre/informe-anual-gamification/

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The educational and attractive nature of games makes them a tool of great interest even for politics (emotions, values, decisions…). The great power of games for influencing behavior modification and decision-making is very attractive for politics, which is exploring if it can directly influence electoral decisions. In this context, political forces have realized that games (videogames, strategy games, simulators, etc.) occupy a new space for political action and communication because of their recreational allure and magnetism, the potential use by different generations and their wide acceptance, especially among young people. A large variety of formats are used, ranging from videogames to small digital options. Highly creative, games provide widespread dissemination by taking advantage of the Internet’s contagious capacity and going viral. Gamification and games become key elements to identify audiences, stimulate interest and participation, motivate sympathizers and volunteers to mobilize, perform political simulations, compare platforms, projects or candidates, or take surveys or opinion polls. We can even see other kinds of initiatives, barely within the limits of what is ethical, that can be used to ridicule or make fun of candidates or proposals. Some of the characteristics: 1.

Interest and attractiveness. The screen, the screens, as the most powerful window to capture attention is the natural habitat of new games. Games “are new and modern.” They arouse more curiosity than other political action and communication tools.

2.

Interaction and active participation. From spectator to player. A key aspect that connects with the demand of the citizens for new political leaders.

3.

Competition. The possibility of competing and beating other users (who can form communities) is very attractive and stimulating.

4.

Motivation. Games introduce elements of challenge and test, which make them very viral and engaging.

5.

Awards. Awards and prizes generate and attract commitment (engagement) increasing the visibility and notoriety of the players… and the game.

6.

Virality and notoriety. The technological characteristics of most political games permit them to be especially useful for social networks, stimulating virality and dissemination.

7.

Mobility. Lastly, their versions for tablets and mobile devices make them especially attractive for modern life.

With this technological boom on our hands, the era where radio, television and the press were the best means to disseminate messages is behind us. Today, it is undeniable that mobile phones and the Internet have acquired a leading role in communication, and in such a way that we seem to forget that in addition to sending and receiving different kinds of messages, our phones let us hold conversations with relatives, inner circles, members of a political party, campaign sympathizers and people in databases.

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From a mobile phone we can send one of the most powerful messages: a voice message. The conversation lets us feel and listen directly to what others have to say. In order to make an impact in political calls, there’s normally a written script and volunteers are trained to express it as best they can over the phone. It is important to give accurate information, and learn what people want, feel or think. Mobile phones permit us to be connected, regardless of their location. Campaign teams can make phone calls to make citizens feel that somebody is listening to them and interested in their problems. In some cases a bond of trust is created; they feel useful, included and part of the solution when somebody else asks: “What do you think we should do?” Not all calls will get sympathizers who will eventually be converted to votes. But they will definitely convey a message, dispel rumors, listen, be “close,” and obtain first-hand information to find out the state of public opinion. If a politician uses mobile technology (not only during election times) to hold conversations with the citizens, his/her credibility and trustworthiness will increase considerably. Mobile technology offers many possibilities; in addition to voice, it is effective when we want to achieve the quick dissemination of the message. With a click we can connect with thousands and save time and money in campaigns. There are already applications for tablets for volunteers to know where to go, who has been there, how many houses they each have visited, etc. Finding updated information about the territory and the voter we are contacting will allow the collection of data which are of great importance for the campaign strategy. Technological tools, as an instrument of today’s connected society, give citizens the chance to organize efficiently and easily, beyond traditional formulas. Without a doubt, the current political crisis has accentuated the speed of these social movements, which reorganize the structure of power. Organized citizens are capable of influencing the political agenda and they force mass media to listen to the voices on the street. We are talking about new digital citizens, new social players that include themselves in the media scene and the construction of the public agenda, with the unprecedented strength, legitimacy and visibility of a growing phenomenon, the phenomenon of transparent politics. The strength of connectivity, since the Internet started, has built a new economic and social environment that requires a process of great operational agility by companies and governments for creating sustainable and profitable models for the future. Being able to visualize and adapt to new scenarios is key to getting a position in markets and societies that are transforming and creating new trends of consumption and behavior. Role models are changing and we are recovering values focused on community, connection, quality and creativity. Mobile life has contributed to the rapid change of our societies. New generations are constantly connected, online, they have access to information, they are critical, hard to fool and they will certainly be an important part of politics. Those known as millennials, born between 1981 and 1995, are the Baby Boomers’ children. According to different global reports, in 2015 they will be 75% of the world labor force. They are called millennials because they became adults with the millennial year change (in the middle of economic prosperity, before the crisis). Some call it Generation Y, others Echo Boomers, although they have been labeled as “millennials” for quite a while.

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Some descriptions picture them as spoiled, capable of extending adolescence to hedonist self-absorption. From “you” to “me.” Impatient and egocentric. They have had 110% more consuming power than their parents but they are now starting to experience the difficulty of unemployment regardless of their high academic preparation. They don’t like traditional models; they have a spasmodic allergy to imposed hierarchy; and they just live with an open mentality of “live one’s life” more than making money. If they had to choose between their material and digital, they would not hesitate: they´d choose the digital ones. Companies don’t know what to do. They (millennials) don’t buy cars, get mortgages… Because they cannot and, in part, they don’t want to. Their main “consumption” is content. They are worried about their image, reputation and projection. They are not afraid of challenges. And their main trait is they master technology as an extension of their own body. Their basic relationships have been through a screen, from the very beginning. The vision of time and space as inevitable elements for any type of relationship or experience is now history. Ubiquity is the present, with no coordinates. Always carrying their smartphones. They can even own three or four mobile devices. Multiformat, multi-screen and multi-cultural, serial. No concessions. Integrated on and off. They cannot see the difference and they do not understand it. This generation will establish a very different relationship, also, with formal politics, a relationship that is more contractual, promiscuous, demanding and volatile; but also decisive in the coming electoral processes. Some of the expected changes could be: 1.

First, mobility. The relationship with political organizations and their participation must be digital and mobile. Technology is not a choice anymore for “new politics,” but a must in order to interact with the citizenry. They communicate, get organized and act online using their mobile devices. They are activists, not members of a political party. Glocals.

2.

The right to decide. They want to interact, influence, decide (and even teach) about the individuals in the government. They will not be satisfied with being just passive receivers of decisions, they want to be part of them. They feel prepared to face challenges: democratic regeneration. They are capable and they must be part of the “new players,” of the “new politics.” They do not accept privileges, or tutelage, or dirigisme. Do they want to change the world? They could, but haven´t decide to do it yet, even though they don’t like the one they have.

3.

Better without parties. They don’t believe in political parties (as they are now), because they consider them part of the problem and not the solution. Political parties will have to create new formulas to promote empowerment with this generation. Freer and more sporadic relationships, as part of a new dynamic with more humility and co-participation. They prefer causes to political bases. It´s the triumph of online requests over revolution. Memes are substituting speeches. Video-politics is substituting programs.

4.

No historical debts. Not for transition nor institutions. Barely for history. They don’t want to wait; they are impatient towards a change of model and values. Their persistence is questioned. Their rapid life predisposes them to anything viscous, slippery and liquid. But their creativity points and accuses.

5.

Shared knowledge. Their world starts with “co.” They are valuable for a new conception of politics: participation and deliberation through IT. Crowd politics. It doesn’t count if you don’t

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share it. A new conception of authority. Their world is trans: transmedia, transcultural, transversal. They believe in a collaborative economy. Sharing is natural. They consider competition to be unhealthy. They travel differently. 6.

Demanding and vigilant. They will be very demanding and intransigent with the values of “new politics”: transparency and accountability with no negotiation. They consider personal and collective exemplarity as the authentic identity: you are what you do, not what you say.

Politics must adapt itself to this unstoppable reality, to these new players-participants of public life and start an accelerated digital migration towards new vital environments. Our social and professional activities are performed with our mobile phones, contrary to politics which have exploited only a small part of the possibilities, mostly during election campaigns where, for example, the use of SMS by political parties verges on spam, with two or three messages a day. We have to understand that mobile technology can organize better any political action in this society of knowledge. It works for provoking changes and getting people together, it informs members and sympathizers of political parties about the latest news, meetings and events. Mobile devices have stopped being just a tool for sending and disseminating SMS or voicemails. Thanks to them we can create and live in a multitask environment where we talk on the phone, listen to music, take photos, share them in social networks, chat, etc.; we inhabit different spaces and times at the same time. We have so many possibilities that it seems hard to go back to those times when phones had only one function. We are living, knowing and sharing thanks to (and through) our “digital senses.” With mobile Internet, a new world of possibilities has opened up for us where we can link each one of our virtual activities (emails, social networks, photos, videos) via SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Vine… or any other new application that permits sharing and receiving content. Our phones (some more than others) have become a virtual portable office where, regardless of time and place, we can have long range and effective communication (the only limit seems to be the battery life). We have a virtual extension that connects us to the world regardless of time and space. All we have to do is look at our screens or click to connect to places near or far away; we can become political agents who generate, receive and transmit information. The boom of new-generation phones makes possibilities seem endless in many aspects. In politics, we have already seen some projects that are worth mentioning. Obama’s use of mobile phones for his 2008 presidential campaign, for example. According to Xavier Peytibi,4 Obama’s mobile strategy was very well designed and it had basically three steps: 1.

He said he would give the name of his vice-president through his mobile phone, which got him 2.9 million numbers, so his campaign put together the highest number of mobile numbers with an interest in politics in a database ever in history.

4. http://www.xavierpeytibi.com/2008/12/11/el-uso-del-movil-en-politica/

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2.

He used those numbers, potential voters, to send them SMS with information about news and actions, very often local ones.

3.

A third step was creating a tool specifically for his campaign, an “Obama Phone,” where you could make calls and find out if your contacts knew who they were going to vote for, receive news regarding the campaign, compare your calls to convince voters with the best recruiters in the Democratic candidate’s social networks, find meetings and events as well as electoral events wherever you were.

Without a doubt, the strategy was effective; using mobile phones as part of Obama’s campaign helped him win presidency of the United States. It couldn’t have been otherwise if we consider that most of the population,5 96%, has a phone in their hand and every number is a possibility to campaign all the time, send updates, announce political events, spread a message, motivate people to vote on the days prior to elections, etc. In short, Obama’s campaign team understood the importance of informing activists first, then the media. By way of mobile technology, a direct bond was established, “close” and without intermediaries between the candidate and the sympathizer. Politics and most of our social activities are going through a transformation; we find ourselves in a mobile world where it is essential to understand the deep transformation in the model of interpersonal relationships. Mobile phones are not just phones anymore and have become powerful and small multi-function devices that permit us to connect with a society of limitless information and in constant movement. It is no secret that mobile technology has been changing our individual and social behaviors. Our current lifestyle has penetrated with such strength that it has transformed the models of consumption. The market knows it; it adapts and takes advantage of it; however, political players and institutions have not yet understood that mobile phones are the most innovative way to create, regenerate and recover the practices of communication, organization and creation with political sense and value. In the face of the changes caused by mobility to the way we act and relate to each other, in politics the offer is still pretty routine, static, non-adjustable, which could explain in part, the lack of connection with citizens. People have relocated to social networks, while politics is still locked in their headquarters made of brick, cement and stones. It stays far from people’s every day life (individually, socially and professionally) and it’s risking losing touch completely if it doesn’t adapt to new ways of communicating, organizing and sharing information using mobile devices. We are talking about the unpostponable transformation of the structure of political parties into digital environments conceived for personal and mobile applications: mobile web, applications, graphics, semantic content, visualization, geo-localization, augmented reality, etc. All concepts slowly assimilated by politics, while life is moving at a reeling pace. Information on the web is multiplying.6

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_mobile_phones_in_use 6. http://www.muyinteresante.es/curiosidades/preguntas-respuestas/cuantos-horas-de-video-se-suben-cada-minuto-a-youtube-721369204817

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It’s a real revolution almost comparable to the industrial revolution but superior in its evolution (in time, extension, penetration and capacity). Devices with cameras, image and sound recorders, QR readers, Internet access, social network oriented and with innumerable applications for socialization. This potential generates new balances between politics and activism, and it permits us to be active citizens, critical and committed with just a single click, without waiting for instructions or accepting dirigisme. The logic of democratic centralism, with its obsolete structure model where authority is given to hierarchy, does not fit well at all in a society that only accepts the authority born from reputation and merits. The DNA of our parties is clearly entrenched for our current society and for the new economic model based on knowledge and sustainability. These parties feel comfortable in an analog culture when the culture is digital—and mobile. Vertical and centralized structures still take precedence, in contrast to new horizontal and decentralized networks, imposing themselves over science, economy, corporations, etc. Their order is hierarchical and their spirit is loyalty, exactly the opposite of a society that recognizes autoritas, independence and autonomy as values that reconfigure the attributes of power. The majority of party communication, including via the Web and mobile devices, is reduced to slogan repetition and the exploitation and colonization of new spaces in social networks. Citizens are severely allergic to thoughtless following while they appreciate creativity and autonomy as essential nutrients to the new politics. Ultimately, the DNA of political parties does not match up—and does not understand—the new social environment being rebuilt in the Web Society and mobile life. It is difficult to represent a society that one does not understand. They frequently lost the privilege of political action in a world where anyone can offer up ideas, give an opinion, or a critique, from their mobile device. Transforming a pyramidal organization into a network organization is not simple. It provides quite a shock. Yet it is inevitable and cannot be postponed if what you want to do is reconnect with society’s many ways, styles, models and values. The whole organization must be restructured for the digital to become natural, not only an accessory or complement. There must be new formats for new challenges. The politics of the future (and the present) is mobile. It’s about trying to use technology to organize ourselves, communicate, and build value in new and creative ways.

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Chapter

6

Changes in Politics 6.1 Mobile Advertising

72

6.2 Mobile Network Optimization

73

6.3 Mobile Fundraising

73

6.4 Mobile-based Participation

78

6.5 The Door-to-Door

80

6.6 WhatsApp on the Campaign Trail

82

6.7 Emoticons and Politics

84

6.8 The Search for Impact

86

6.9 Mobile Devices and Campaigns in the Social Networks

86

6.10 Technopolitics

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92

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Politics in the digital era is more complex. The possibilities offered by new technologies to convey a compelling message quickly in the network expand the range of communication and organization perspectives. The roles of power are transformed; new leaderships appear and traditional structures are forced to reposition themselves in this new scenario. The virality (and the hyperactivity of the multi-screen digital world) is not only a symptom of the tremendous acceleration of the flows and the content, but also means that the protocols, cycles and processes of linear and sequential communication of the old paradigm issuer-channel-receiver have been overrun and overcome.  Due to the extraordinary penetration of mobile telephony, it should not surprise us that the short message service (SMS) was a striking mechanism of political marketing several years ago, as it is now. Most of them are read, and the average response time is 90 seconds, a fairly short time when compared with the two and a half days, on average, that takes the response to a traditional e-mail.  But the rapid technological advances of our time make the campaign mobile policy cease to be only sending short text messages, if not, the possibilities of victory in the elections would surely be reduced. Although the SMS continues as the “workhorse” because of its low cost and its high impact, mobile phones today, in part thanks to the rapid growth in the number of smartphone owners, should be used as a channel to disseminate a comprehensive and creative strategy that includes pictures, videos and social networks to make an impact on a larger number of people and potential voters.  Howard Dean, a candidate in the primary of the Democratic Party of United States, was the first to use a strategy, in his attempt to win the presidential election of 2004, consisting of an SMS dissemination system where it was possible to subscribe to a general list and a special list for journalists. It also allowed chats with other militants through this system. It was the first time in North American elections that electronic communication incorporated SMS communication.1 Barack Obama’s 2008 U.S. presidential campaign also received recognition for using SMS and mobile Internet so effectively. Only four years later, for the 2012 election, the short text message continued to be an effective channel for American campaigns to try to achieve a substantial group of voters

1. http://www.xavierpeytibi.com/2006/10/13/%C2%BFquien-fue-howard-dean/?/

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through their mobile phones. However, given the technological advances applications, video and images were a powerful addition and had a prominent role in the mobile strategy. Voters demanded a relationship in real time with the candidate, breaking news, polls, first-hand information, inside perspectives from the campaign, meeting places, etc., and their mobile devices were the appropriate channel to give them everything they wanted.  The technological advances that have been made available on our mobile devices at a dizzying rate have allowed campaign strategies to include more messages and by various channels, which helps to create a deeper and more direct connection between the candidates and the voters. We can still recall the time when our mobile phones had screens that couldn’t display many colors. Now, any device that can’t display YouTube or Vine videos quickly and in high resolution seems like something from the Stone Age.  Since the development of television, video has always been a key component in political campaigns. Televised debates and speeches have driven or sunk candidates in the polls. This is why it is important to ensure that the mobile (video player) becomes a constant extension of the candidate’s image; a channel, a place where they can be seen and located. As technology progresses, each election must innovate its strategies with new trends, media and communication methods. Smartphones with their improved data transmission and receiving plans, their progress in video reproduction, creation and penetration quality and speed in constant updating, should be used as an essential channel for transmitting candidates’ video messages and ideas. Video as mobile strategy should be positioning itself as one of the “must do’s” of any current political campaign.  But in addition to being able to view the candidate on our screens (increasingly larger), our devices also give us the chance to do anything for them. Mobile campaigns are advancing in the sending of messages, customized by sector, by means of the user’s location. Many of the messages are being targeted to people, according to their geolocation,2  indicating the meeting places (close to them) where they can go, lend their support and receive information about the campaign.  Localization allows the candidate to influence groups previously segmented, send mobile alerts if they are giving a speech nearby, motivate and mobilize “locals” to vote, create relationships of closeness with them, thereby given the campaign an extra boost in electoral battle grounds. It is an effective method, an “ace up the sleeve” which lets them focus and target specific locations considered as crucial by the campaign strategy. We must be aware of the enormous potential and communicative value that the mobile phone offers.  Saying that “the phone knows everything” is not stretching reality. The mobile phone can locate us, hold our information, our emails, publications, tweets, shopping, photos, navigation data... it knows what we do and with whom we do it. It is a uniquely powerful tool and let us organize without complications, create a sense of community or be activists of a cause. It only takes an e-mail, a text or a photo to our contacts to get our messages out there. 

2. http://armysatelital.com/geoposicionamiento.html

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Designing a campaign without including the mobile phone in this day and age would be unforgivable, first because they are devices that people possess, second because the new generation phones (4G) have a huge technological potential as a means of transmission that facilitates sending audio, text, image or video messages. Every day more and more people are reading, and listening to political messages on their mobile devices while they perform other activity. The contribution mobiles are providing to electoral campaigns is undeniable; they are a technology potentially available to all players. The parties may distribute campaign materials, the media can improve and make more attractive content for their audience in each of its broadcasts and the electoral authorities can educate the public and encourage political participation, especially among young voters. Using the mobile phone we can interact with citizens, receive donations or share information to get our message through more effectively. We can include links to websites where users can donate and learn more about the upcoming events of a campaign. We interact with the voters; build a database; generate and maintain a close bond to the people; offer them content that catches their attention; excite and attract them. For citizens, mobile devices are a powerful tool that lets them talk about the issues they are passionate about. For politicians, they are a powerful means of sending messages and garnering support.  The mobile strategy not only serves to strengthen communication with our citizens or potential voters, it also can be a tool that reinforces our political team and increases internal productivity to mobilize equipment and report the campaign events scheduled to take place in different cities, states, or regions.  We are certainly not always sitting at home watching television and commercials, but most of us always have our mobile devices on hand. This is something that U.S. presidential campaigns were well aware of, as in 2012, they increased sending of political ads, via text message, to mobile phones, especially in the so-called swing states.3 Election campaigns have been changing dramatically. It’s been a long time since voters are no longer captivated by traditional media alone. Newspapers, radio and television were responsible for influencing and reaching the “masses,” the vast majority of the population. Today the technologies that we have in our hands have allowed us to open new and powerful channels to capture attention and voters. No campaign can afford to do without them; firstly because that would be archaic; and secondly, and most importantly, because it would cost them the chance to attract a considerable number of citizens.  The traditional way to watch TV, listen to the radio or read the newspapers with rapt attention focused on one and only of these media, is a thing of the past. We currently live in a multi-screen world and our attention is divided among them at the same time. We are an increasingly fragmented public that actively seeks to avoid commercials. It is no longer enough to simply change the channel or station; now we can even delete them. 

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_state

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With this in mind, the political campaigns of today must send messages that reach the individual in a digital environment, contact them depending on their likes: segmenting and tailoring to each one. The citizens of today are no longer the so-called “the mass.” Today they are individuals with personal interests that should be contacted according to their uniqueness to reach them in the most effective way possible. Tailoring to the individual lets us know and understand in order to reach our goal, be closer to them and offer what they are looking for, what interests them.  A good example of personalization is Amazon.com, where they develop a profile of their customers based on their purchase history and the data they provided voluntarily. Communication in the electoral politics, where our customer is the voter and the product would be the candidate, customization allows you to tailor the product according to tastes and offer it to our “buyer” with a greater likelihood of achieving a successful sale. In each rally, or campaign event, we must collect data and information of potential voters that allow us to divide them and send them increasingly customized messages according to their interests and keep them connected to the candidate and the campaign.  The campaigns and the candidates have found on the network and new technologies a powerful ally that enables them to spread their ideas and political messages at a low cost compared to the benefits they attain. They can attract volunteers and capture donations that can make big difference in the campaign and the subsequent result. Mobile devices enable us to connect thousands of people with similar interests, form groups of supporters and reunite them, linking information, spreading messages, photos, videos, petitions, surveys. Ultimately, a myriad of possibilities opens up to generate political action and link citizens to the campaign through their own mobile phone.  Politicians and candidates must be present in our digital life, generate dialog and build relationships in the Internet. Our mobile phones have gained great importance in order to achieve this purpose: they contribute to create the impression of individual scope within a large community with similar concerns. The portability and connectivity of our mobile devices became the scene of the present and the future for election campaigns.  This mobile technology has positioned itself as a new and effective way to ask for votes. And why not if our phones are on between fourteen or fifteen hours a day and we almost always open the messages we receive: it is a sure impact. In addition, mobile messages as an electoral strategy have another obvious advantage compared to traditional means of advertising: the cost/benefit relationship they represent.  The mobile and its multiple functions have become one of the most effective tools to carry out campaigns and mobilize supporters, to such an extent that, in the United States, both democrats and republicans worked together to get the Federal Election Commission to approve donations for election campaigns through text messages. Something that Barack Obama and his team were able to capitalize on very well to win the presidency in 2012 even though he focused on efforts to maximize the mobile device in his 2008 presidential campaign strategy.4 On that occasion a campaign was designed to gather the largest amount of telephone numbers in order to turn the phone owners into activists. 

4. http://www.xavierpeytibi.com/2009/01/18/lecciones-de-obama-la-cam pana- mobile/

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With the collaboration of Chris Hughes, one of the founders of Facebook, www.my.barackobama.com (or MyBO), Obama’s campaign social network was created. It was a web page where anyone could join giving their mobile phone number and zip code. The supporters of Obama became a great asset to the campaign, because with an app designed for mobile phones they collaborated in spreading the message and drove voters to action. The app allowed them to record which friends would vote, know whom they should call, share news of campaigns with others, download and learn about dates and event venues, etc.  New technologies have played a decisive role in the election of Obama. Campaign rallies were focused and used to get phone numbers that served to propagate the candidate’s ideas and proposals. The Denver Convention5 where Obama was nominate by the Democratic Party to run for the presidency of the United States, was able to gather 50,000 telephone numbers among the 100,000 people who attended.  Mobile telephony allowed the 2008 campaign to invite the citizens to send the word HOPE to the number 62262 (numbers for the word Obama on the keyboard of some mobile phones), download ring tones, wallpapers, receive updated news, perform surveys and quizzes (if you want option 1, send obama1; if you want option 2, send obama2; etcetera), send the name of his running mate in an SMS; these and other ideas drove a traffic of 2.9 million messages and made it possible to collect an enormous database of mobile numbers (people) interested in politics.  Each of these numbers was used to make a permanent campaign, spread the message, send constant updates, announce political events (depending on the location), encourage people to vote days prior to the election. In short, Obama and his team, since 2008, made it clear that the first to be informed are the activists, not the media. A method of direct communication between candidate and supporters, without intermediaries, that proved its effectiveness in the polls.  And if the 2008 campaign was successful, the 2012 Obama campaign went beyond the traditional text messages, newsletters and advertising, which were sent from mobile devices, beyond apps and web pages. It was the first campaign to accept donations via SMS, in which their supporters could send up to $50 a day (about 40 euros) with a limit that would not allow them to exceed $200 per month. The mobilization of small donors, and the amount of money they donated (charged to their telephone bill), was essential to raise funds that allowed Obama to finance his campaign and, subsequently, win the campaign for the presidency over Mitt Romney.  Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager, said: “To accept small donations via SMS will help us to attract to our base the individuals who want to have a role by contributing anything they can to the campaign.” The facts would prove Messina right. Barack Obama’s campaign financing was supported, in good measure, on the small contributions that caught up with the millionaire figures6 that Romney and the Republican party collected, who had planned to raise $800 million for the 2012 election. 

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Democratic_National_Convention 6. http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2012/08/07/actualidad/1344362858_522336.html

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Faced with this economic “monster” which supported the Republican candidate, the initiative and collection response of the Obama team did not wait long. It was the president himself who sent a message to his network of contacts that spurred his to donors as follows: “They may spend more than us and we will still win. But it will be impossible for them to spend ten times more than us and still we will win.” In addition, he promoted through advertising in traditional media and in Internet messages such as: “To support Obama for America with ten dollars send GIVE to 62262.”  It was not the first time that Obama used the text message via mobile phone, in 2008 his campaign revealed through an SMS to their followers that Joe Biden would be his vice-president formula. However, many received the message when the information was already in many media, ruining the surprise effect.  It is an indisputable fact that mobile phones have begun to play an important role in any strategy. Although television, radio, posters with photos of candidates, fences, flags, the distribution of pamphlets, vehicles loaded with propaganda and loudspeakers are still used in election campaigns. It would be a waste if campaigns, parties and institutions failed to take advantage of the mobile channel as effective communication. Mobile phones are part of our lives. We carry them most of the time. And we are more likely to share and send messages than if we received them by press or email.  Despite the apparent victory of the Obama mobile phone contributors in August of 2012, the Romney campaign was not far behind. The team launched a constant barrage of applications that year: “With Mitt,” “VP Mitt Romney” and, later, “Mitt Events.”  “With Mitt” was an iPhone application that allowed people to take photos of the event and easily send images to Twitter and Facebook. However, if this app spread, it was due probably to a terrible spelling error. The application had written Amercia, instead of America, a blunder, which quickly became viral. The next day Apple launched a revised version of the application, but it had already gone viral.  The application “VP Mitt” simply announced Romney’s choice of his vice presidential candidate. Despite the one-dollar fee to find out who Romney’s running mate would be, the application was very popular. It had 200,000 downloads in the first forty-eight hours, and hundreds of thousands thereafter.  Other applications of the Romney-Ryan collection offered information about the candidates and their events, as well as how to share content and order tickets to the candidates’ speaking engagements.  In the meantime, the centerpiece of the Obama phone campaign efforts was the Dashboard tool. This mobile component was launched early summer of 2012. The panel was a kind of digital desk for activists and volunteers, where they were offered options for involvement in the campaign. The tool expedited online and offline data; incorporated the existing social networks and located information and events according to the user’s geographical area.  The team also launched the application “Obama for America,” which was launched in late July. It provided information to supporters with regard to the president’s policies, news, events, community activities, volunteer opportunities and information on how to register to vote. 

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6.1 Mobile Advertising  SMS marketing, or the marketing of text messages, a tactic used today by many political campaigns, has been a part of campaign tool kits for some time. However, this method, although widely used, may not be as effective as it is often assumed. A recent survey of Axciom found that only 9% of those surveyed thought that SMS marketing was appropriate.  In spite of the fact that mobile web advertising is still seen by many as more intrusive than web advertising, is also perceived as less intrusive than SMS sales. On the other hand, as there are almost 1.2 million mobile Internet users in the world, failing to use this channel is substantial oversight. “Obama for America” used advertising in the mobile web, as did the Mitt Romney and Ron Paul campaigns. The director of Mitt Romney’s digital team, Zac Moffatt, acknowledged that there is a significant potential, saying that “if we do not reach them on their mobile phones, we are losing a great opportunity to reach out to people who are voters.”  Mitt Romney’s campaign bought ads for mobile phones through Google AdWords that used a click-tocall function that allowed the mobile phone user to call the campaign directly from the ad. Some of the candidates of the Republican Party also took advantage of the unique advantages of mobile advertising. In the period prior to the lowa caucus, which Bachmann won, his campaign made an aggressive mobile campaign advertising click-to-call. On the other hand, Rick Perry’s digital strategist, Vincent Harris, used the marketing possibilities of advanced mobile advertising for mobile ads within a radius of eight kilometers of several Christian colleges in South Carolina.  Obama’s campaign succeeded in raising more money through the mobile phone, although it was Romney and his team who invested more effectively in advertising in that platform. In spite of the fact that the mobile advertising industry as it was still not at an advanced stage and very little was known about its scope, both campaigns explored it through paid political messages. Obama inserted ads in mobile games of the expert hand in the field: Electronics Arts (EA), while Romney did the same by making use of the mobile advertising offered by Facebook. In this regard commented Zac Moffatt (Director of Romney’s digital campaign) during a conference7 organized by TechCrunch Disrupt: “We were the first with mobile advertising on Facebook, and I believe that we are one of the largest advertisers of the world now with Facebook Mobile.”  That online advertising could boost users captured through Facebook to sign up on any page that supports a particular politician, to download applications, share their data and eventually become active campaign volunteers.  Just like the social network Facebook, both campaigns also used Google’s power of penetration in mobile phones and advertised there. However, Romney was ahead in the use of advertisements by this means, for example, directing Android users toward their pages through specific ads for that platform. 

7. http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/12/romney-digital-director-zac-moffatt/

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At the end of the election, it was Barack Obama who made it to the White House. His campaign and his opponent left us several precedents for the future mobile strategies in the political field. The new generations of voters are progressing along with the technology and it is in the mobile space where they currently are and where they relate. We must look for them, among devices and applications. But because we live in a digital world should we forget that the closest relationships are created face to face. 

6.2 Mobile Network Optimization While, as indicated, only 9% of mobile users said they are willing to accept messages from SMS marketing, 78% is willing to accept e-mail messages. E-mail is a tried and true method for the coverage of the campaign, and although it may not appear obvious why this is relevant for the mobile phone, there is a very important connection. According to a Pew study, 36% of all cell phone users check their email on their phone and 87% of all users of smartphones check their email on their phones. With this data, the campaigns must operate under the assumption that any email sent to a supporter is likely to be read on a mobile device. There are some important implications of these data. The emails must perform properly on mobile devices, as the likelihood that beneficiaries will take the time to read said email on their computer later is truly low.  There are also important implications when it comes to donations. Nate Thames, political director of ActBlue, indicates that “95% of the online contributions to a normal federal campaign will be driven by email. However, the tool that potential donors are using for emails is shifting. And as the smartphones continue to gain market share, we are seeing a steady increase in the percentage of our mobile traffic.”  In the last quarter of 2011, on average, more than 12% of all traffic to a web site came from mobile phones. The emails must link the smooth operation of the mobile web sites and offer the opportunity to donate through the mobile web. According to the latest data from ComScore, 38% of the smartphone users have made a purchase from their phones. This number can be surprisingly high, and the campaigns should not ignore the fact that there is a significant population ready to make financial transactions through their smartphone.  There is the potential for people donating money through their smartphones, but the donation process should be as simple as possible. 

6.3 Mobile Fundraising  The fundraising campaign has come a long way in the electoral cycles. In 2012, online fundraising was a basic element of political campaigns, and the mobile phone is the next frontier. 

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Square, a credit card scanner and mobile payment platform, has landed on the political scene. Square has specially adapted the interface for political donations, allowing volunteers and campaign staffers to collect data, such as the donator’s zip code and particulars.  In 2012, both the Obama and Romney teams adopted Square. The Obama campaign even created a fundraising application available for download from the Apple Appstore. The application allowed any Obama supporter to raise funds for his campaign, using Square on their own iPhone or iPad. 

Fundraising with Mobile Phones (Square).

Online fundraising could play a crucial role in the near future. The mobile phone is too important to neglect it, and it seems that campaigns are starting to recognize it and to act accordingly.  According to Scott Gillum,8 of Forbes, there are six ways the 2012 presidential election drove the mobile marketing innovation. With high rates of social media users and the extensive penetration of smartphones in comparison with the 2008 elections, innovations in mobile applications and advertising were expected. Gillum stated six areas that had to be followed:  1.

Hyperlocal targeting. Obama’s campaign team had developed an application that linked a Google map to the neighborhood in which the volunteers were working. The map contained blue flags on the houses that had been contacted and included scripts to get closer to individual voters. 

2.

Micro geo-targeting. During a concert at Grant Park in Chicago, Romney’s team placed display ads on the smartphones of the attendees of the concert and others in the vicinity.

3.

Mobile Payments. Obama’s team developed a new program called “Fast Donation.” The sup-

8. http://www.forbes.com/sites/gyro/2012/09/20/six-ways-the-2012-presidential-election-is-driving-mobile-marketing-innovation/

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porters could contribute with recurrent donations by sending the dollar amount that they wanted to donate through a text message. 4.

Share social networks. With an application, Mitt Romney allowed his activists chose a template to upload a photo from their phone and quickly share it on Twitter or Facebook. Romney’s team also allowed, through its application “Mitt events,” voters to see the upcoming events in their area, as well as find friends that attend these events and see the attendees’ tweets in real time.

5.

Real-time data. Both parties had applications that enabled volunteers to report on activities in real time and interact with voters.

6.

Commitment. Romney’s campaign team captured valuable information of the supporters who downloaded the application “VP Mitt.” The application is committed to informing supporters of the vice president choice first. Unfortunately, the media beat them to it, but allowed Romney’s team to send notifications throughout the campaign to activists’ smartphones. 

Many of us are living and maintaining relationships in the new mobile society. In Spain, for example, there are more mobile phones than inhabitants; however, one should keep in mind that not all of the citizens are always online, and in politics the electorate is segmented. It should provide tools, offline “shortcuts” to invite potential voters to connect, activate and access the political messages in network.  Continuing on with Peytibi,9 “politics’ new challenge in the network (and probably also that of marketing): link, via ‘shortcuts,’ the physical world to the virtual world, with a myriad of information that, for economic reasons, or space, cannot be found on a poster in the street, but can be forwarded to all the information about the topic present in the web.”  Democrat Robin Carnahan’s campaign for the United States Senate (2010) focused on “clean” politics, invited, from billboards located in bathrooms, sending text messages to a number with the words wash or wake up. Anyone who sent it received information on Carnahan’s proposals and career. Additionally, the mobile number was saved in a database managed by the campaign team and served to analyze, segment and focus the strategy in accordance with the collected information.  The mobile campaign developed parallel to traditional media publicity. It is now inevitable to speak of the mobile platform when planning a strategy to position and disseminate ideas. To reach the audience through their own communication devices makes it possible to establish a more personal, more “intimate” relationship.  Political propaganda inserted into free messages for voters, orientation, dissemination of the candidate’s ideas, coordination of party members, information on results, planning of important events, sending of addresses or links to a map, last minute schedule changes, information updates. Thanks to the development of mobile technology, campaign strategies have found a powerful ally in their goal to 9. http://www.xavierpeytibi.com/2010/12/23/cinco-atajos-online-campanas-online/

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achieve effective communication. A simple click on the “Send” button offers quick, comprehensive and effective dissemination.  The entire SMS strategy is possible if the public really wants to receive it, otherwise, it will become a double-edged sword. There are many who do not wish to receive propaganda on their mobile devices, that’s why it is important to work on an adequate and up-to-date database before sending messages. What seems obvious should be kept in mind and understood that messages are sent out to people, not numbers.  The technology innovation also compels us to develop new campaign strategies to reach out to the public. While the use of mobile phones has been standardized, this is no longer just a voice communication device but a multi-channel tool that gives us unlimited access to information, social networks and applications.  From our individual screens we are participating in a large community where similar interests converge and invite us to action. With a single click we can register as campaign volunteers, be “in,” “part of,” “donate to,” send messages and share content with our contacts or with any person that can read; we are connected with the world. Our mobile device is all we need to be seen and heard.  Just like QR entered the field of political marketing, SMS, texts and images sent from WhatsApp or other messaging applications, photos hung on Instagram or videos sent via YouTube or Vine continued to develop their enormous potential to attract voters. They not only work to try and to get votes, but also, and most importantly, to collect valuable data about the voters.  Mobile applications can help us create an asset that is essential to every campaign: the database. In addition to facilitating the dissemination of the message and the relationship with the voters, an updated database with the list of potential voters allows you to optimize your efforts and more importantly, save time. For example, it prevents two or more volunteers knocking on the same door to get the same vote. Smartphones allow volunteers to send, in real time, reports on the addresses previously visited, committed voters, undecided voters, voters who definitely do not want to vote for the candidate, etc. This way the campaign manages its communication strategy better and target objectives that are increasingly specific and organized.  Compared to other advances and changes, it wasn’t very long ago when smartphones were considered a luxury reserved for a small few. We now live in a technological world where most of the possible voters has a mobile device and use it more and more to be online, connected. Our devices have created an enormous potential for political action.  With each new election a growing amount of advertising and political ads are sent in our mobile world. In the United States, for example, if you lived in one of the so-called swing states during the 2012 presidential election campaign, you probably received a political message on one of your mobile devices. Obama and his advisers always considered the mobile as an essential campaign element. 

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The technology should be harnessed and viewed as an effective communication channel. Text messages sent via mobile devices give the voters a sense of a more personal campaign, contribute to mobilizing large numbers of supporters and can attract volunteers.  Mobile devices nowadays are powerful and can do a lot for an election campaign. They advance daily in technology; they’re faster, have larger screens, enable us to get our messages out to a large number of individuals; and keep us in touch. They allow us to locate and segment our target audiences, sort them according to their interests and offer answers to their specific needs.  The 2008 Obama campaign received recognition for its use of the digital media, and stepped up its efforts in 2012. The campaign used mobile tools to communicate with followers. It even developed an app for smartphones that, in addition to sending news and give information about the campaign, traced via GPS the users who downloaded it (prior acceptance), thereby allowing the team to develop strategies and send messages targeted to certain areas of interest.  But having voters opt-in or download a campaign app is not always necessary for them to get political messages. Technology advances in such a way that anyone with a smartphone and geolocation services can be a potential target for information. Most people are unaware that the phone can be located whenever they download applications to search for nearby restaurants, bars or movie theaters, for example.  Thanks to smartphones we can send individual messages to specific locations and at specific times. During the 2012 presidential primary election campaign in lowa republican Rick Perry sent a message to every smartphone that had the Bible app installed in that state.  The ever expanding scope of our mobile phones in most of the aspects of our daily life could not ignore the power of penetration it has been gaining in each new election. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center10 Icon found that more than a quarter of American adults have used their mobile phone to learn about and, in some cases, take a more active part in the elections. As mobile devices progress, growing numbers of people who want to use to stay in touch. There is no excuse for candidates to leave this powerful tool out of their strategies.  Politics, along with the way to make politics, has been changing. Over the years political campaigns have found new scenarios to try to get votes; the digital world is one of them. Mobile phones and their penetration have opened up tremendous possibilities for sending and getting messages across. The majority of the citizens with the right to vote have one on hand and check it often.  Every political campaign looking for supporters, as well as any organization or company that wants to attract more customers, must reach out, look for and “attract” them in their own environment. Campaign strategies that used only mass media such as television, radio or newspapers are a thing of the past. We need to develop digital strategies because that’s where our citizens live and relate to each other. 

10. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/12/27/survey.phones.election/index.html?iref=allsearch

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The political applications designed for smartphones are a channel that allows politicians to inform, interact and, of course, try to get citizens’ votes. The mobile phone has been positioning itself as an active player or protagonist in political campaign strategies. Its purpose is not only to send messages but also to raise funds or create closer relationships with the voters; the possibilities are enormous. 

6.4 Mobile-based Participation In October 2014, Podemos activists discussed the foundations on which to build their political project: “We are going to build an electoral war machine,” stated Iñigo Errejon, one of their top leaders. The Citizen Assembly of this formation discussed more than 250 political, organizational and ethical proposals that the different activists had submitted since the September 15.  Form is substance. Changing the way of doing politics is also a symbol of the fact politics can be changed. To do this, a new way to open up to the public, to open civil participation is used thanks to technology. The main tool is Appgree (which was used by Equo) and that defines itself as “a new means of communication that gives a voice to groups of any size, and with it the possibility to participate in new communication situations.” In Appgree—a word play between app (application) and agree—anyone can use their mobile phone upload their proposal so other users can evaluate it. Appgree works through Demo Rank,11 an algorithm based on statistical sampling, and on the principle of equiprobability, i.e., a random sample of persons is representative of the whole and any person has the same chance of being chosen to be part of the sample. Through “rounds of assessment,” Appgree discards proposals with the worst evaluation until it’s left with the most popular. No matter how many people participate, nor how many proposals there are, Appgree allows agreements to be reached and facilitates decision-making. But this is not the first nor the only technological solution used by political parties. Some years ago the Pirate Party of Germany, for example, used Liquidfeedback, one of the more popular debate and voting platforms worldwide. Liquidfeedback introduces the concept of liquid democracy which consists of being able to delegate the vote in any election to another person that we believe to be trustworthy, ideal, etc. Agora Voting was used internally by Equo and served, in September 2013, to determine the vote of the member Joan Baldovã (Compromis-Equo) in the discussion of the Law of Transparency. Finally, in Argentina, the young Network Party developed Democracy OS, a software where people can learn, discuss and vote.  Reddit is one of the largest growthing networks of the Internet in recent years, with hundreds of thousands of subreddits and more than 700 million visitors per month so far. “Yes, We Can” has created its own page on Reddit: the Plaza Podemos Project. This page invites users to start “thread,” i.e. to start a debate about a text or a link they wish to share. In addition to sharing content and starting a conversa-

11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa5qpk-dgzi

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tion, comments or assessments about others can be made. It’s also used to share all the draft proposals and debates of the Podemos Citizens Assembly. Finally, Podemos also promotes the use of other platforms, such as Titanpad and Loomio. The first is a collaborative writing tool in real time where there are no editors or established coordinators. Titanpad enables the creation of new texts or joining existing ones. Loomio is a simple tool for discussion for any type of group, from small workgroups to large social organizations. In this way, on the one hand, it increases the ability to find the most consensual solutions possible, instead of closing the discussions quickly with votes, and, on the other hand, it provides a way to keep abreast of other people’s opinions and prevents anyone from monopolizing the discussion. What is most interesting is the fact that Podemos has created tutorials for each tool, to make them known and used by all its members, and some are even explained by Pablo Iglesias himself.  We are, it seems, before a new model of doing things and ways of doing politics. Give one’s word first, before asking for the vote. In a disappointed, critical and informed society, politics is increasingly controlled by the citizens; they want to be able to decide, or have the opportunity to do so. There are ever more applications and platforms that scrutinize and monitor the activities of the rulers, and some that allow the people to participate in politics or make decisions together. The problem is that no party seemed to want to use them.  One of the keys to why technopolitics can be an extraordinary factor of political renovation lies not only in the technological power to make large-scale participation and debate possible and easier, but in the ability to reconvert followers, supporters or voters into activists; to make the transition from opinion to sharing to action possible. Think tanks and project developers, such as Lab OR Demo, are well aware of this. In the world of marketing, for example, the campaigns with user-generated content12 are decisive in the attention span of potential consumers and 25% of their decisions depends on the opinion formed by the shared view. What users consume most is information and opinion. Technopolitics knows that whoever controls the conversation (social media, the new social digital clipping), ends up having a dominant position in the creation of views with decision to vote, as with the decision to purchase brands and products. In fact, 25% of the search results for the 20 leading brands in the world are links to content generated by the most influential consumers.  Joichi Ito, director of the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, already explained it very well in 2011: “Voices will be more important than the votes. The vote is a very poor way to know what the people want...” Somehow, the democracy of votes has forgotten, ignored or despised the democracy of the voices. Technopolitics can change the equations. Voices that are networks, words that are threads, people that are communities. Whoever wants to get votes must understand the voices and their echoes first. There are no short cuts or lampedusian changes that work. 

12. http://www.socialbro.com/blog/7-ways-harness-power-user-generated-content-marketing-campaigns?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium= email&utm_content=14502625 &_hsenc=p2ANqtz--wzZte-2AR2_cxAzUIPPtqd_lt00c_eJm6lbLd3_i5zg pbzRK20m6xzuA7XrRp5 Im-Pevq PVP7ILDVuoHe2Ahm9spUGZw&_hsmi=14502625

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6.5 The Door-to-Door When it comes to getting votes, personal relationships,13 with neighbors, are an essential tool to mobilize voters, or at least to classify our potential audience. However, it’s often complicated to do, since the bureaucracy (enormous lists of doors to knock on, and of those already visited with the report of each possible voter that was contacted) makes it impossible to take advantage of all that huge amount of work the volunteers do. The voluntary door-to-door work involves an unquantifiable investment of time, energy and passion, and that is the main reason why these results should be used correctly.  The U.S. Democratic Party had already thought of something like it in 2010. It created a tool to install on any iPhone or iPad, that in 2014 showed the user where to go, who had gone there before, how each neighbor would vote, and how many homes each volunteer had visited.  The application made it possible to retrieve the data about the voters in a territory quickly (including maps of where they live), to find information about each voter contacted that could be passed on to the interested contacts and, more importantly, to keep track of what the field organizers were learning from their time spent looking for voters. Of course, the application also had other features: receive alerts and news in real time, find events nearby, photos, videos, campaign pitches and donations.  But these tools have not only been used in the United States. In 2008, three young Frenchmen, Guillaume Liegey, Arthur Muller and Vincent Pons, were doing their university studies in Boston. At that time, they were captivated by Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, especially with regard to the organization to reach out to all the neighborhoods and communicate effectively with most of the voters by means of the “door-to-door” strategy.  In 2012,14 they used their experience as a starting point to manage a new campaign mode for the French socialist party and its candidate at the time, François Hollande. The goal: to create a “door-todoor” campaign to reach five million households, something never seen before in France (nor in Europe). And they did it.  With an anti-politics sentiment and a growing rate of abstention in France, the “door-to-door” was seen as the only way to make the French believe again in the socialists. In reality, the strategy of personal visits did not target all “the French” but only to those who had stopped voting for the PS and abstained from voting altogether. It was data sorting that made the “door-to-door” visits more useful, preventing a waste of time and financial and human resources.  With their sights on the French municipal elections of 2014, these same “Bostonians,” created a tool that tried to improve the even their previous effectiveness. As Peytibi15 indicates, it was the software “ 50 +1,” that made it possible to identify the priority areas where pockets of voters were located, to 13. http://www.xavierpeytibi.com/2010/09/14/puerta-a-puerta-via-iphone-e-ipad/ 14. http://www.xavierpeytibi.com/2013/05/14/el-puerta-a-puerta-tambien-funciona-en-europa/ 15. http://www.xavierpeytibi.com/2014/01/22/relaciones-software-y-datos-en-campana/

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generate “door-to-door” work plans and to keep track of the territorial coverage by polling station. It was also used to send text messages or emails to activists grouped according to the objectives: for example, only those available on Saturdays.  Another successful software in France is “Nation Builder,” used by the socialist candidate in Marseille, Patrick Menucci, during the primaries of his party. What this tool allows, apart from managing communities of activists and sending different messages depending on the segmentation, it quickly and easily collects all the data that the activists gathered in the “door-to-door”, to mobilize them as best as possible on election day. In Marseille data of 12,000 of the 24,000 voters that finally went to the polls was collected. And Menucci won by only 300 votes. All were important.  In Paris, as Slate16 indicates, the team of the candidate (who later became mayor) Anne Hidalgo also used a powerful software, Blue State Digital, for segmentation, rapid communication and data collection, and contracted the “50 +1” tool for the “door-to-door” volunteers.  In September 2000, an article17 in the American Political Science Review compared the effectiveness of the three participation techniques: phone calls, e-mail, and “door-to-door” contact. The authors’ conclusion questions the relevance of the increasing use of impersonal political marketing techniques and showed that face-to-face interactions increased participation more than any other. With these interactions and the use of mobile phones immediate information is available, and it will serve for future messages or campaigns.  In the midterm’s elections of November 2014, an iniciative18 was created in the U.S. Republican party, called Victory 365, to fill the streets, towns and cities with volunteers to go door to door, bar to bar, square to square, to make their message known. This was not about advertising, but relationships. It was not just a matter of politics, but listening and trying to convince, if possible. But they did not go to just any street and look for people, what made it interesting was that they followed an established order, going to certain areas where they knew the vote was undecided, or was previously republican. They knew everything from the palm of their hand, just by looking at their mobile phone, and after each conversation, they wrote in the same mobile application called RNC Beacon, what the person had told them, whether or not they would vote, what questions they had, if they needed more visits or calls, or if they never wanted to see them again. Volunteers were responsible for identifying, recruiting and building relationships with the voters in their own communities, with their own neighbors. All the results were sent in real-time via mobile to the republican headquarters that managed the volunteers’ future routes and visits.  It was about mobilizing and persuading through the relationships established day-to-day, and aided by data, segmentation of messages, and maps. The secret weapon were the activists, not the software, though it did help to prevent wasting time and resources. 

16. http://www.slate.fr/france/81323/municipales-geeks-politique-ps 17. http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2585837?uid=3737952&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21103278066311 18. http://www.xavierpeytibi.com/2014/11/01/la-creacion-de-grasroots-republicanos/

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Whoever forgets what the secret weapon is may think that spending a lot of money on modern tools has it made (like those who in 2009 thought that by opening a Twitter account they already had the online campaign made), but they never will—not even come close—if they don’t mobilize willing activists if personal relationships are not established with potential voters online, but especially offline, and if all these new relationships are not analyzed. You can do all this today with a mobile phone.  

6.6 WhatsApp on the Campaign Trail Among the most prominent mobile applications we find, of course, WhatsApp, so popular and still so little exploited in politics. This technology, in addition to allowing the people relate to one another, and build communities of interest, also (and at the same time) it empowers, encourages and promotes them to action as autonomous and creative users.  People talk “directly” and interact through WhatsApp, immediately and at any time and place. Even the symbolic dominance of SMS was shattered on New Year’s Eve and finally collapsed. WhatsApp allows smartphones users to communicate at no additional cost, beyond the cost of the data plan. People can send photos, videos and voice notes while talking. In addition, it allows group communication with a simple user interface and customizable notifications. After being acquired by Facebook, we will see how it evolves and resists the temptation to charge users in a highly competitive field.  For now we look forward to the development of applications, free or not, that will fill our screens with letters, symbols, emoticons and graphic creations, as well as the avatars of our social networks, in the construction of the narrative and political communication with highly viral capability and strong social magnetism.  One of the best features that has gained popularity with the arrival of WhatsApp is chatting with emoticons. They are not a novelty; they’ve been around since the late nineties, but were rarely used outside of Japan. Currently they are so common that many people around the world, especially young people, would rather use icons than letters in their messages.  Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to add new emoticons created by the user, which would have a potential use in politics. Imagine having an angry or happy Rajoy emoticon, or a face with a PSOE banner or a sign against a certain government measure. The uses are countless. There is no doubt that exploring the potential in this field can provide new records for communication turning into action.  Markets are conversations; smart and in the palm of your hand. And politics hasn’t understood either of them yet. Smartphones are part of our everyday lives, and if they were understood and used correctly as a medium that is part of them like WhatsApp is, there would surely change or influence the course of election campaigns. In August of 2013, Spain had 20 million users of the popular messaging application among the 300 million users worldwide, according to figures supplied by Jan Koum, CEO and co-founder of the company during the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona—very relevant

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data when compared with the number of total population of the country and that will surely continue to grow (only four years after its launch in 2013, WhatsApp already exceeded the 250 million active users around the world).19  WhatsApp and similar alternatives have been spreading and gaining ground due to the increase of the smartphones among the population. Spain has become the European country with the highest penetration of smartphones20 with 66%, while the European average is 57%.  The technology integration, especially among the younger generations, leads to a rapid change of habits in relationship and social organization forms. These are characterized by their versatility thanks to their mobile features and ease to interact with other users. The mobile screen has become the first space of socialization and relationship arena for sharing contents.  Applications on smartphones (WhatsApp in particular) are therefore converted into a track/opportunity to bring people with common interests through technology and solve their real needs from the own individual initiative. WhatsApp allows us socialize and engage with talks whenever we want. In addition, it is a tool that constantly looks on a routine basis. One of the most important features of this social technology is that it brings people together, building communities of interests, but also (and at the same time) it empowers, encourages and promotes autonomous action and creative users. The people speak directly into it and interact through WhatsApp immediately and at any time and place.  Mobile Life Style is, surely, the most transforming concept of the individual and social behavior that we have known until now. This life causes big changes in consumption patterns and personal and professional use, which are well known by the market and ignored by politics. Unfortunately, the political players and institutions have not understood that the mobile politics scenario is the greatest innovation for the recovery of new practices of communication, organization and value creation.  Also the use of WhatsApp has things to say about political action and election campaigns. The campaign team that understands it first can take advantage of the capabilities that a tool such as this has for everyday political action, which could be summed up in five characteristics:  1.

Possibility of creating action-oriented, thematic, territorial and operational groups among activists. This is in direct communication and approach of real-time actions, which can be discussed quickly although these activists are tens—or thousands—of kilometers apart. From devising a specific action to spread news, discussing it and making a decision on the spot. It could, also, do away with some tedious meetings and responses that arrive late and incorrectly.

2.

Possibility of a new audiovisual language. Text, images, videos, emoticons, etc., can be shared among the team members. They are not long and boring action reports, but short and very

19. http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/06/20/whatsapp-surpasses-250-million-active-users/ 20. http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1900266/0/espana-lidera/uso-smartphones/66-penetracion/

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visual. The language creativity is enhanced by the combination of words, emoticons and resources. 3.

Creation of new leaders. It is a question of natural leadership in groups, depending on the ability to create views and provide good ideas, and depending on the time spent on the campaign. Leaders emerge and they do so because of their talent, not their position. It is also the language closest to all, including the candidate and those responsible for campaign.

4.

Possibility to quickly circulate audiovisual elements in real time. The phone allows you to record videos or take pictures live and share them among all the activists to be uploaded to the Web. It is a new visual language that connects to the language the new generations are accustomed to: video, audio, image and computer graphics. Speed is a competitive factor in the digital ecosystem and in the creation of the public agenda.

5.

Rapid response. In an election campaign, the rapid response to unexpected situations (unforeseen news, attacks by opponents, and opportunities in the agenda) is key. WhatsApp is good for establishing protocols for action, coordinating responses and mobilizing human and technical resources at the right time and in the most efficient way.

In the upcoming election campaigns (or primaries) the WhatsApp design for political organization, communication and creation will be decisive. 

6.7 Emoticons and Politics  Can emoticons used in political communication be effective? The question may come as a surprise, but the answer is very serious: yes, emphatically, yes. They are part of the new revolution of content turned into action. The growth of instant messaging applications, with WhatsApp at the head (which is already competing with success by the attention of the users compared to social networks, and for some months now snatched away from the traffic from e-mail), is a clear sign of the struggle for attention, a scarce commodity in our society, political action, universities and companies.  These are some of the reasons why emoticons (in all their versions) can dominate much of the language and the political activism of the future:  1.

The memes channeled social creativity. The visual language is overtaking digital conversation. The ease, comfort and speed with which high-quality memes can be created (and shared) have fired spontaneity and immediacy. Visual satire has replaced the critical argument. Its viral capacity is unstoppable. The humor channels the social malaise and cynicism. Given its powerful effectiveness, political communication cannot do without (or ignore) the extraordinary potential of meme-barrage politics. For example, the tools Meme Dad, lmgflip, MemeGenerator.es, lmgur, Livememe, Quickmeme or Kanvas offer versatile and simple alternatives. The role of the specialists or experts is supplanted by the audacity of the common. Today, technology offers layers of magnetic knowledge that don’t have to be understood to work with. This is the world of action. 

2.

Think, say (write), do. The emoticons ease the transition think-say-do. As the message is more attractive and creative it promotes virality and earns a digital reputation whoever cre-

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ates and/or shares it. Emoticons liven up the action of sending, to act as iconographies of complex messages. We like to write with signs, anagrams, abbreviations, codes, and this reassessment of what is strictly textual in ideographs gives messages great versatility. From letters to symbols. From words into signs. Some political forces, as the democrats in the United States, have begun to work with stickers for activism, approaching this concept with anticipation... and skill. 3.

Universality. Emoticons also respond to the characteristics of the universal design, which promotes the development of products and environments with easy access to the largest possible number of people. It is based on the following seven principles: equality of use, flexibility, simplicity and intuition, easy-to-perceive information, minimizing errors, little physical or mental effort and appropriate dimensions. Universality, as well as its multimodal and multilingual capacity, is necessary to achieve full accessibility, without discriminating any user. 

4.  Virality. Juan Luis Sanchez explains it very well: “A Turk and a Spaniard don’t understand each other when they speak, nor do a Spaniard and an Egyptian. But when facing an image (...) cultures converge with greater overlapping areas, more common elements.” The images (and the emoticons, of course) allow you to explore language and universal emotions. “The summary of a revolt may be in a single image,” says Yolanda Quintana co-author along with the Outliers collective, of a study of the images that were circulated with the hashtag #occupygezi. In her research, she asked what kind of images go viral and end up representing a social movement, and how do networks behave when it comes to strong visual content. Virality and viewing go hand in hand, and give each other feedback.  5.

Political activism. The campaign of crowfunding reconstruction of Can Vies is innovating in many ways, “in the amount of special collaborations it’s gotten and offer as exclusive rewards, in their incisive viral videos... and more recently they’ve surprised us by exploring new ways to disseminate the campaign.” You can also follow the history of #EfectoCanVies in WhatsApp explained with emoticons. We are at the outset of creative and surprising visual narratives. Narrative politics will be enhanced, and come up with hybrid languages and techniques. The potential is enormous.

6.

Animated emoticons. Twitter already allows animated gifs, so we will soon begin to see movements in the news or messages that we read in our timeline. The evolution toward the animation will provide new opportunities for micro-communitacion. Screens are filled with images, icons, photographs and micro-videos. Emoticons are going to move generating new narrative opportunities.

7.

Constant innovation. In July of this year emoticons were renewed with the Unicode update and 250 new characters. “The most controversial is the one hidden under code 1F595, a clenched fist and middle finger up. Translated, the popular ‘comb’ turned into an icon sent in a matter of seconds,” says Rosa Jimenez Cano. We are not far from more “local,” designs of strong contemporary connotation. Can you imagine Rajoy, Sanchez or Iglesias emoticons? The potential for political communication (from critics, propaganda, or surveillance) in the proximity screens of the mobile phones is extraordinary. And more so at a time when it has become the most valued material object (and essential) to more people every day. 

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6.8 The Search for Impact Our mobile phones and the Internet together are turned into a powerful weapon that helps win the electoral battle. Political party web pages offer the possibility to subscribe to alert services via the telephone, to receive campaign agendas or summaries of the candidates’ speeches. However, a web portal falls short if we believe in the impact and dissemination ability that can be obtained by leveraging the power of the Internet. The company Campaign Solutions also thought, and, already in 2007, pioneered the use of a campaign method called Google Surge.21 It was used in the campaign of governor Bobby Jindal. It saturates all the Google Ads on different websites with political banners directed at people of a certain territory.  In other words, many web pages use Google ads with banners. In that campaign people of a certain territory would see a specific ad every time they got on the Internet. This kind of campaign, also known as Google Network Blast, display the candidate or message in an incredible way for one or two days for the entire target audience. They are expensive campaigns that can change vote the day before the election. According to several studies, this type of campaign achieves approximately a 95% of presence on websites that have Google ads. And most importantly, they are not only adwords, but direct banners, so you can think about the message and image displayed.  At the end of 2010, the Google Surge moved to a new level with the intensive use of mobile phones. It doesn’t matter anymore where you live, but where you connect. A good example is the campaign of Michele Bachman (Republican candidate of Minnesota). One of the most important events there is the state fair. One of his campaign aides, Eric Frenchman, thought: “Imagine that the people are standing in the queue for beer and take out their iPhone to kill time. Imagine that the only ad they can see is the candidate saying that his opponent wants to raise taxes, including beers and hot dogs, and that they can see that announcement in the palm of hand. Pure evil genius...”  And that is exactly what they did. Anyone who was connected to the Internet from their mobile device, less than 10 kilometers from the fair, saw a banner criticizing Bachman’s opponent that read “Watch this video on Tarryl Clark taxing your state fair foods!” This video had a 61% rate of visits from iPhone and Android phones on the first day of the campaign.  In Florida, some candidates also used these ads for mobile phones to be seen by the people waiting in line to vote. The aim was to get the undecided voters at the last minute. Google Mobile Surge was born.

6.9 Mobile Devices and Campaigns in the Social Networks The campaigns are betting on the new technologies to get closer to the voters and get their message through Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Flickr, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram. Social networks and the

21. http://www.xavierpeytibi.com/2010/10/01/las-campanas-%E2%80%9Cgoogle-surge%E2%80%9D/

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Internet are currently the top civic and democratic energy; this is where an important part of the debate is found. Many users passionately talking about politics in depth.  For this reason it is important that social networks be considered in a political campaign as part of its communication strategy. Additionally, it’s important to keep in mind that the traditional media use these tools to control public opinion so they can decide which political issues to include in their publications and how to approach them. The phenomenon of opinion analysis is nothing new. Leaders, politicians, and political institutions have always sought to keep abreast of public opinion and their changes; that’s why they’re continuously using surveys, among other tools, to get the information they need.  The difference with social networks is that there is a more direct contact with users and by connecting to them, we can discover their opinions and needs with greater accuracy, showing even more transparency and interest to maintain a bidirectional communication, increasing voters’ trust.  The year 2011 was the year of youths in networks and on the streets. Time magazine, surprisingly, recognized it as such and chose a young demonstrator with her face covered as person of the year. New ways to organize, communicate and create critical political content and social response answer are changing the way to take part in the political action throughout the world. People can exert pressure from outside the parties and participate in public life without having to be a grass-roots activist. Social networks have had a lot to do with the movements that have emerged. Communication has been completely transformed. The interactions, ideas, free instant messages are modifying the structures of communication and how we share information, now in a horizontal manner. Worth no longer lies in who is bigger or has more power, but in who is faster and has more talent recognized by their peers. Social networks have delivered a power to the citizens as never before. From there we can call for a change, generate protests, call to action, fight for our ideas and defend our interests. There are already platforms designed exclusively for this. One of them is Change.org,22 that already has more than 70 million users in 196 countries and seeks, through signatures and petitions, to change the things that affect us or are of interest about our surroundings, or a faraway place; it doesn’t matter. The network connects us regardless of time or distance.  The dynamics of our relationships has, without a doubt, changed thanks to the networks and mobile devices. Politicians and advisers should understand that if they want to communicate and connect with the citizens in an effective manner. In 2008, during the campaign for the U.S. presidency strategists looked to maintain dominance over conversations in the social networks, especially in Facebook and Twitter. Four years later (2012) mobile phones with access to the Internet became the most desired space from which to influence the voters. The smartphone became the spearhead for winning the electoral campaign. It could not be otherwise because in the United States there are between 80 and 100 million of these devices in use.  The future of electoral processes is definitively linking to the new technologies. Just access any Internet search engine and key in the name of any politician to prove it, because from five to six out of ten

22. https://www.change.org/es/qui%C3%A9nes-somos

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results will be related to a social network. The significance of this lies in the fact that the penetration rate in time and overall space is growing rapidly and very intensively. Just like the number of phones, we also have numerous applications dedicated to the political stage as evidenced by the apps developed by media at the time of the elections to put the information, direct and literally, in the hands of the citizens. However, some politicians and their campaign strategists prefer to develop their own applications so their followers receive news directly on their phones without having to go through the media filters. They know the potential that a voter has connected to the Internet and to the campaign, through their own mobile device.  The campaign application is more than a candidate news broadcaster. It is a tool that leverages the fact that all users who download it, must sign up using their personal profile on Facebook or another social network. From that moment on, the application collects names, last names, location, and level of commitment to the party—a valuable database of information used to adapt the platform to each user. Whenever users open the application they receive notifications about events convened by the campaign or by volunteers at nearby locations. The volunteers of Obama for America held thousands of meetings in thousands of cities across the country, for example. To maintain this summoning power, the use the application made of the location data was decisive.  The competition for social networks has not been left out of the applications. Most permit sharing all kinds of information about the campaign on Facebook or Twitter personal profiles from where they are also invited to download the app. In this way, the telephone becomes an information, fundraising and follower coordination center. Campaigns are putting the necessary tools to support the campaign and contribute to electoral victory into the hands of any sympathizer with a mobile phone.  In the competitive ecosystem of mobile applications, we cannot ignore Instagram, social platform to share photos that social networks and smartphones gave such momentum that it jumped out of the juvenile to the political scene. There are already several leaders who share their lives and activities in the social network that is accessed more often by mobile phone than by computer. Currently candidates and rulers resort to “everyday” pictures to attract young voters, connect with them, talk to them on their terms (networks), promote themselves and vie for acceptance through images seeking the closeness with the rest of the citizens. One of the images that went around the world, as previously mentioned, was Barack Obama’s selfie with the Prime Minister of Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, taken (from a mobile device) during the farewell ceremony to Nelson Mandela. The snapshot spread like wildfire on social networks, generating so many reactions and caused a fuss that, thanks to it, many discovered the term selfie, which the Oxford Dictionary announced as the international word of the year in November 2013.  In spite of the fact that this type of photography is nothing new, it became the fashion of the time, thanks especially to social networks. Selfies have been around since the dawn of photography, and there are numerous images that prove it. The first known selfie is that of Robert Cornelius in a daguerreotype of 1829. However, at present, the possibility of making them in real time with a mobile

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phone, and send them directly to contacts on social networks, makes the selfie phenomenon a revolution.  But the images shared on social networks do not only seek to simply connect with our followers and contacts. Several mobilization campaigns have been launched based on photographs taken from mobile phones. Shortly before he died in a car bombing in Beirut, the Lebanese adolescent Mohammad al Chaar had posed for a selfie with their friends, giving rise to a protest campaign by Lebanese citizens and several places in the world, where dozens of selfies were posted in social networks posing with messages of support and the tag #notamartir (not a martyr) to denounce the violence in Lebanon.  The new political expressions are exploring the enormous potential of the visual, hybrid and metabolized options in the digital world for activism and mobilization. Recently the citizens were seduced by speeches, words, etc., today, a photograph, a powerful image is enough to perhaps incite the population to a revolution. The images, thanks to the rise of the network and the mobile phone, are viral and can end up representing a social movement. It is the power of memecracy.23 The creative power of digital ARTivismo for social ACTivism. New languages, new politics.  Applications on smartphones are therefore turned into a means/opportunity to bring people with common interests together through technology and solve their real needs from their own individual initiative.  Would this phenomenon have been possible without the digital media or social networking? No, the social technology has changed everything, even the concept of power: how to exert it, how to get-it, how to extend it or protect it. Today a fast and creative small item can beat a big, slow and clumsy one. The classic attributes of power (size, resources, organization, position, etc.) are replaced by alternative and militant vocation by the newcomers (creation, networking, creativity, talent, agility, etc.).  We live in an incredible era, in which the opportunities to change things are greater than ever. We can get thousands of people to join a cause without investing a lot of time and money or the need for complex infrastructure. Technology and our mobile phones have succeeded in getting people more connected than ever, and governments and large companies to listen and pay attention to us.  The mobile revolution is unstoppable. It grows with each new release of devices and terminals, with sophisticated features, such as the LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks with download speeds of 100 megabits per second, as is already the case in Sweden or Norway.  A new and powerful democratic weapon is within reach of many citizens. Mobile phones, as described, today have more technology than what was used to take man to the Moon. It is a genuine revolution, almost comparable to the industrial revolution, but broader in its evolution (at the time, in its extension, penetration and capacity). The digital citizens are a reality and a great power; they have great influence, maintain communication, create, and give their opinions. Moreover the number of people who have the most powerful tool, the smartphone, is increasing nowadays. 

23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme

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This device has countless applications for socialization that politics is using in order to enhance motivation, concentration, effort, or loyalty. Returning to gamification in politics, we saw a case of success for political engagement with the MTV game Fantasy election, in which its 20,000 players had to choose real candidates that earned or lost points every week with their performance in the 2012 campaign. The players also earned points if they read articles about the campaign or attended events. Players seemed more interested and involved in politics, and 90% of them went to vote on election day. In the Italian elections of 2013, candidate Mario Monti offered prizes to their virtual activists more involved in campaign (send a tweet, attend rallies...), which was also done in the 2012 and 2008 election campaigns in the U.S. Mobile applications and minisites24 intended for elections are the ideal environment to implement this trend in political life. Politics moves from the billboard to the pocket. In the European elections, institutions and political parties’ confidence in these applications was remarkable, exploring practices and innovative uses that went far beyond mere information, they involved creativity. This is the case of EU Time Machine. With this minisite the European Parliament seeks show us how the policies of the European Union changed our everyday life. They do it by comparing a house set in 1979—the year of the first elections—with a current home. For example, clicking on the detergent in the kitchen in 1979, it is reported that then in Europe the consumer safety was an issue that has not dealt with. In contrast, the detergent of 2014 explains the controls made by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the development of green chemistry in Europe. Another good example is ‘I’m a voter’. This Facebook application of the European Commission invited the user to choose a balloon, insert a message on the European elections and spread it around. There was a competition in which the balloon with the most kilometers travelled won; the balloon advanced at an initial speed of 50km/h, with each Iike, commentary, or sharing increased its speed. EU Open Doors, on the other hand, advertised its open house using an app that promised a “special gift” for those who invited five friends from the application itself. The page proposed a trivia called “play the game” to see how much we know about the EU. The project had its application in Facebook, which includes the two games and that allowed you to share the results obtained on your wall. Another application is Box your EP, which proposed to create your own “box,” that is, select the issues facing the European Union that interested you most. Games and creativity are motivating people to vote. They invite users to think and to become better informed, as well as visit pages of electoral check-ups. Playing is a natural way to learn and discover. 24. “A minisite is a website by which companies offer information about one specific product or product group. Typically, a minisite is enhanced by various multimedia content, such as an animated, narrated introduction, and accompanied by a visual scheme which complements the product well.” Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minisite

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We’ll see if the younger and urban voters are mobilized: their life is mobile and their relationships begin (and end, many times) on the screens.  Games and many other potential elements emerging from the rise of networks, and mobile applications, contribute to citizen action and mobilization. The creation of new content by these citizens—in the majority done via mobile phone—and constantly shared on social networks increases exponentially the global data volume. In the next eighteen months, all the information available on the Web will double. About 40% of total views from YouTube, for example, come from mobile devices. The new technologies introduced radical changes in the way to campaign, but also in the way of presenting results, projects or facilitating communication of the new digital citizens with the Administration. We have passed from bulky boxes with all the documentation to the introduction of digital files (CD and memory sticks) all the way to the immateriality of the QR code. QR codes are growing in public administration. Among the various challenges and proposals related to Open Government, which was already faced in 2012, pointed to the possibility of connecting with citizens at any time to inform and/or resolve doubts in a single click on a mobile device, an opportunity that should not be missed. Curiously, in Latin, QR means quem rogat (he who asks) or quare (why?).  The potential of usability, as well as the benefits of group discussions, the sending of files or the auto synchronisation with these QR codes and identification of users are going to change the equations of face-to-face communication and virtual communication in the use of real time or deferred bilateral and multilateral conversations. The integration of QR codes in public buildings, large equipment or unique spaces will also be a daily reality that is collected in different predictions relating to the administration and social networks. And its use is becoming an important element in political campaigns and election strategies. An example of this was already seen in 2010 in the campaign posters of the UK candidate Martin Tod, or in 2008 by the hand of the German Wolfgang Heubish (in the German municipal elections that year) who, from the use of QR codes, provided specific information on Twitter profiles, for example.  Tod, Liberal Democrats candidate in the city of Winchester, created a curious campaign poster with two innovative ideas for posters. In the first place, the preeminence and central visibility of the candidate’s Twitter address, which in this case was @mpntod. Secondly, his own QR code that led to his mobile web, to find the latest information on the campaign and latest messages.  In both cases, it led to the candidates’ web page (configured for mobile), but it could be improved, for example, capitalizing on thematic brochures or segmented messages with specific information for those who read the code via their mobile. The QR can also be inserted in newspapers, magazines or any thematic element that can convey the message to send to the public.  Their growth in Spanish society, and in the European context, is a fact that is reflected in various studies, such as Scanlife.25 The III Report on BIDI code scanning trends. Spain is located in the third place of the top 10 countries with regard to scan, behind the United States and Canada.  25. http://www.scanlife.com/trend-reports

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We must applaud the incorporation of technology in public life. But this must be consistent in all the actions of the Government. The technological tools and their use do not generate, alone, digital culture. Pretending to be modern is not to being modern.  Many politicians and leaders use networks as loudspeakers, not as a way of listening. Social networks are an excellent opportunity to find out what people are thinking and feeling about what is happening in politics. Networks are like huge radar for our society and they generate important electoral “Big Data.” If politicians find out and discover which topics and ideas people share the most, and why, they will be able to know their communities more in depth, and first hand. Networks are a great laboratory for understanding and defining what citizens are truly concerned about. The new electoral maps are those of the social networks.

6.10 Technopolitics «This will change everything» January 2007, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, during the iPhone presentation

I finished the last chapter of this book right around the same time as the annual meeting of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Another year gone shows how mobile technology, with its enormous ability to integrate applications and networks, is much more than just connectivity or functionality, for example. It changes the way people relate to each other, as it rebuilds their individual identities into communities based on interests and likes. We in our facet as consumer, user, and citizen are being reshaped. What is more, it is transforming markets and societies; mobile technology is social technology. This is the new equation. Coinciding with the global meeting, The Economist published an important editorial26 entitled Planet of the phones. To start, the autocrats will not have everything they hoped for. Smartphones are the vehicle for connecting billions of people online. The cheapest are selling for less than 40 dollars, and it seems that prices could drop even further. The same telephones that enable governments to spy on their own citizens also enable the brutality of public employees to be recorded and for such information and dissenting opinions to be disseminated. Mobile telephones provide on-demand autonomy and facilitate the organization of protest movements. A device that provides people with so much power has the potential to challenge authoritarianism. Using an automotive metaphor, politics is driving with its low beams on while the citizenry has turned on their high beams. For many, voting only once every four years is no longer acceptable; they want to participate in a more continuous fashion, and such a demand is not being addressed by the political system. Nothing that is truly important in life can wait four years. In this context, technopolitics is carving a path forward to the empowerment for the new citizen; a more bountiful tool to experience liberty, autonomy, privacy, and community as well. Nothing will

26. http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21645180-smartphone-ubiquitous-addictive-and-transformative-planet-phones

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ever go back to the way it was, even five years ago, in politics or in communications. We find ourselves in a clear dichotomy between the multitudes, tides, and alliances versus the masses, movements, and parties. The latter, the traditional players, are being replaced by the former, thanks to the Internet and our mobile devices. The most significant components would be: 1.

Headquarters versus networks. Politics should get out of its offices and be present in the networks. From the street to mobile devices. From punctual, one-directional meetings to active listening and permanent and online discussion. Not understanding the mobile phenomenon could end up being a serious mistake. On the other hand, understanding it and taking advantage of it can offer great opportunities. Mobile technology opens an enormous array of possibilities and also continues blazing ahead in constant development and innovation. The political—and electoral—battle of the next few years will prominently take place on a new mobile stage.

2.

Houses versus causes. There are new ways of taking part in politics, as we have seen in the examples of Appgree, LiquidFeedback, Loomio or Reddit, to which we must add Ushaidi, a mapping tool that allows us to add layers of geographical information to data. We found one such use during the demonstration of September 25, 2012 in Madrid (Voces25S). Anyone, geolocating their tweets made from a mobile telephone, could show where they were on that day, creating an attractive visual map related to the protest. Now activists don’t require party members; they don’t have to wait around for slogans because they know that change can be made in individual environments.

3.

New languages, new stories. New languages also affect the way politicians are perceived. Mobile devices foster new communication models through their own languages: think emoticons. For example, in November of 2014, Julie Bishop, Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, began using emojis, various emoticons, such as smiley faces. Since then, the public’s perception of her has been much more friendly and favorable. She gained 20,000 more Twitter followers in just one week. But language does not solely imply emoticons or text, but the constant sending of visual messages, images, short videos, and memes makes mobiles, and especially the use of WhatsApp, into an incredible tool for political communication.

4.

Big Data and microtargeting. Mobiles also enable people to use and take advantage of user data, as we have already seen. More devices means more data. Mobile technology boosts the use of microtargeting. Democratic politics should be able to get more out of the enormous potential knowledge that data offers in terms of its management, prediction, and possible actions when it is analyzed rather than proclaimed. They need to get past publicity and move onto understanding. Spanish companies that are properly using Big Data technology know this well, and have reported 10% growth in the last 4 years, almost twice that of companies in their same sector that do not take advantage of these technologies. In open governments, the opening and use of data is also crucial if one wants to be closer to the general public and serve it better.

5.

Behavior and relationship patterns. Telephones not only know what we do and say, but also where we are. Data, data, and more data. The change in model is heading towards a model of

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abundance. The strategic management of this information provides for the identification of behavior patterns and hypotheses for responding to stimuli, action, and political communication. Digital content is becoming the new lifeblood of the Internet. Returning to the editorial in The Economist, and its provocative vision of the Phono Sapiens, the transformative power of smartphones lies in their size and the connectivity they provide. Their size has converted them into the first truly personal computers. These phones have the processing power of the supercomputers of the past. Even the most basic models process more numerical data than NASA when they put a man on the moon back in 1969, and it applies this data to normal human interactions. Because data transfer is cheap, this power is available on the move. Since 2005 the wireless delivery cost of a megabyte has plummeted from 8 dollars to a few cents. And prices are still falling. The old, bored PC sitting on your desk doesn’t know very much about you. But your mobile travels with you, knows where you are, what websites you visit, who you chat with, even how healthy you are. In fact, lifetracking—a trend that is becoming more and more common in our lives—allows us to monitor anything we do that affects our health (from the hours we sleep or walk to our pulse). 6.

Videopolitics: don’t tell me, film it. The rise in mobile video recordings has turned us into visual beings. We are constantly watching videos, sharing, and creating them. They are a little-used weapon in politics, but have tremendous potential as emotional or informative messages. With WhatsApp, these videos quickly become viral, spreading from person to person.

7.

Gamification: playing for action. The use of gamification is another constant in technopolitics. We are used to playing, interacting, and even competing across our screens. If a game manages to stir up interest and attract our attention, if it can motivate us to do something, that something, thanks to our mobiles and social networking, can become highly viral and/or notorious, at least within our contact circle. In the most recent European elections, in 2014, the political party Podemos asked people to upload a selfie with 5 other friends, and to publish it on the Web, as part of the “1x5” contest, in which the picture with the most «likes» won a prize. All of this, through a mobile phone.

8.

Emotions on your screen. Managing emotions, something basic in political communication, is reaching new heights with the surge of mobile phones. Managing the flow of emotions is key in any phase of political action: social denunciation, activist mobilization, electoral confrontation or the retelling of the action itself. Without emotion, a message’s effectiveness is limited. We think what we feel. We take action out of necessity, but also through motivation and stimulation. Thanks to new mobile devices, once-unthinkable solutions exist that can hybridize audio, image, and text and offer unprecedented possibilities for political communication. This means we have the power to create powerful images with quality audiovisual narratives and that can motivate user creativity. Our brains think what they feel and think in images. Therefore, we must take advantage of this ability as well.

9.

“Voices will always be more important than votes,” Joichi Ito. As we have seen, a new political culture has burst forth with digital activism as an alternative and the Internet as its fertile

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ecosystem. Demonstrations, for example, no longer last a few set hours during a predetermined act of protest, but rather—thanks to content created by its same participants on their phones and then shared among their social networks—they manage to give that moment continuity in time via the Internet. The citizens are taking the floor... and now, the voice and image as well. In fact, since the creation of the first camera in 1826 (189 years ago), 3.5 trillion photos have been taken. Currently, 380 billions photos are taken every year, such that—in less than ten years—the number of digital photographs will reach 7.3 trillion. In addition, every day 300 million photos are uploaded to Facebook, a network that has 100,000 times more photos than the United States Library of Congress. We are talking about a “visual” society where image, and swiftly sharing them with others, is taking precedence. Political organizations must understand this and adapt to this new reality. 10.

“Now we make the news.” This was the motto of a protest banner in the Mexican demonstrations #Soy132 in 2012. The powerful combination of capture >data >networks >geolocation >visualization offers alternate narrative possibilities, with new focal point and decentralized protagonism. In addition, many activists believe they should share their own version of the facts in the face of the silence, manipulation, or inaccuracy of published information. Citizen cameras versus surveillance cameras. And lastly, mobile communication takes place in real time; it is instantaneous. This allows politics to react immediately to unexpected situations or new scenarios, either among campaign teams in an electoral context—to mobilize human resources or new content—or in dealing with citizens to respond to specific demands.

To sum up: mobile or fossil? Parties continue to be important, of course, but they will become less so each day that they do not transform the way they are perceived and, more than anything, if they do not understand change and adapt to it. Reducing political communication to mere publicity distances parties from the conversation and... from our mobile phones. Publicity requires—and enables—a certain level of control; conversations, however, cannot be controlled, the same way that young people voting in 2015, who were practically born with a mobile in their hand, cannot be controlled. Politics must assimilate this unstoppable reality and rethink itself within this vital new setting. As Ignacio Escolar, chief editor of eldiario.es, points out, “for the moment, the changes that technology is causing in politics are more noticeable within society than the institutions themselves, more in demonstrations than in governments.” To continue in such a way could become the new digital divide in formal politics, but—with change—it could mean the definitive transformation of the political ecosystem. The new power is the era of ideas. It resides in an ongoing and interconnected dialogue. Relationships, coordination, data, speed and emotion. The new politics (and new campaigns) must adapt to the mobile phenomenon and take advantage of all its possibilities. Now is the time for politics to enter our most personal and intimate device. The hard truth is either politics as we know it becomes mobile, or it will be no more than a fossil.

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