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Showing posts with the label elections and new technology

India leaders blog, text to plug in to young voters

Reuters | 03/18/2009 5:59 PM MUMBAI - Video clips on YouTube, updates on Facebook, blogs, and an online voter registration campaign. Welcome to a newly-wired India, where political parties are using text messages to send updates and leaders are sprucing up their pages on social networking sites in an effort to connect with the country's growing young and plugged-in generation. With nearly 700 million people eligible to cast their votes in an April and May general election, the ruling Congress party and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are devoting more time to first-time voters and the tech-savvy middle class. The reasons are not hard to find: a booming economy that grew at about 9 percent in the last three years encouraged rapid penetration of Internet and mobile phone ownership, giving politicians tools to connect with even far-flung areas. "We have 100 million first-time voters in the age group 18-24, and they are all most likely connected via the Internet a...