Philipino Politics

Article

Filipinos made media and political history by using mobile SMS technology or texting in helping bring down former President Estra-da. The power of communication networks was demonstrated when people massed at Edsa after the Senate voted not to open the envelope that would supposedly prove that former President Estrada was “Jose Velarde”. True to the nature of networks, the mass action had no centralized guidance, but was the product of diffused, but connected people. An American media and technological philosopher has called this phenomenon of groups of people undertaking common political activity with the use of communication networks, “the intelligent swarm”. This article examines the rise and use of political SMS in the Philippines.