Issues & problems

In order to use mobiles effectively for coordinating and mobilising it's vital that your organisation keep an accurate and up-to-date record of the mobile phone numbers of your staff, members and supporters. If you have sufficient resources it's worth investing the time in setting up a database, using tools such as the organiser's database (http://www.organizersdb.org/home) or CivicCRM (http://civicrm.org/). Be sure to let people know that you may be using their mobile phone numbers.

If you are using viral techniques you don't have any control over how many people get your message, or who they are. You can't guarantee that your message will be forwarded on to your intended audience in time for the information to be useful.

While Twitter is an easy tool to use, in most of the world uploading information to it via SMS requires sending a costly international SMS message to a number in the United Kingdom. Reports have also started to arrive that Twitter is being blocked in some places such as Dubai.