Michael Sabat, Mobile Commons

Your organization needs to understand how to send different messages to different people through different channels. It would never have made sense to run a TV commercial over the radio trying to reach a newspaper reader, just as it doesn't make sense trying to get an instant response from business people by messaging through your org's MySpace page. Getting the mix correct means you send the right message, through the right channel, reaching the right people to accomplish your goal.

So, how should mobile fit in your mix with regard to the messages, the people, and the goals involved?

Remember when Comcast got caught blocking web content? Well, prompted by complaints about recent actions by Comcast, the FCC -- the government agency responsible for regulating the Internet -- has asked the public to comment on whether or not the companies controlling the pipes should dictate what content gets through them.

This is a complicated issue that could have a pretty simple outcome for nonprofits across the country: your content could be blocked.

Lots of us work on issues that can be viewed as controversial. If you work in sex education or reproductive health, you've probably already had to cope with technologies that make it hard for you to deliver your message to stakeholders. Take just one example: NARAL Pro-Choice America text messages were temporarily censored by a mobile provider last fall.

But it's not just sex talk that's in jeopardy. Without protection, any organization's work could be blocked at any time, for any reason. It's important that nonprofits engage in this debate and actively shape the outcome here.

You can get involved today: leave your comment with the FCC. The agency is accepting comments through February 13.  Our sector needs to be represented.

Flickr Photo: johnmukA couple of weeks ago, my 2-year-old was kind enough to let me listen to NPR on our way downtown, and I heard a funny little snippet about Spain's most popular ringtone:

...a royal voice saying “Why don't you shut up?” — the recent outburst of Spain's King Juan Carlos to President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela at a summit in Santiago, Chile.

I meant to blog it but forgot. (I think my mind was trying to erase the subsequent event of that car ride, namely listening to "A Spoonful of Sugar" 13 time in a row.)

Imagine my delight when Katrin Verclas, esteemed former NTEN ED, tweeted a link to an Economist piece stemming from an event she ran in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It's a great summary of some of the cutting edge mobile work that's going on around the world, from election monitoring in Nigeria to getting around censorship in Pakistan -- and it references the King Juan Carlos ringtone.

Are mobile phones really the next big thing? It certainly looks that way. An article in the Baltimore Sun points out that the US market is really busy right now making sure that the next generation of mobile phones will be much more than phones:

Great article in the New York Times today about a text messaging campaign gone awry. It's a really great piece of reporting. On the surface, it covers the decision last week by Verizon to censor a text message that NARAL Pro-Choice America wanted to send to its supporters. This week, Verizon reversed the decision, saying "It was an incorrect interpretation of a dusty internal policy."

What's most interesting though, is the structure that leaves these kinds of decisions in the hands of the providers. The Times says:

...legal experts said private companies like Verizon probably have the legal right to decide which messages to carry. The laws that forbid common carriers from interfering with voice transmissions on ordinary phone lines do not apply to text messages.