It is election season in Pakistan, and for the first time ever, it seems that the young are as enthusiastic as the old. The Election Commission is hard at work to make sure that the best people enter this race. And, like any elections, campaigns are required to be run. In 2008, the internet did not influence the elections much. It was not used as an effective tool for political campaigns. Learning from Obama's "Yes We Can", Arab Spring, and perhaps the 2012 French elections, political parties in Pakistan have now understood that politicking on the web is as essential as done elsewhere.
It is my habit to check Dawn's website almost three times in a day. A headline "PTI fundraiser aims for Guinness Book record" took my attention. Pakistan has found a recent passion in breaking world records and on the above, it seemed PTI volunteers did not want to be left behind.
However, the news story that followed the headline made me break my inactivity of months for it. (To be honest, I had no option but too add that filler at the start.) The online edition of Dawn said:
For the common man, there is a need of definitions at this point. First, what is a pixel (px)? To make it easy, pixel is like the smallest form of an image (consider it as a dot) on a monitor or any other digital display device. When many pixels join together, a clear image is formed. The higher the number of pixel, the better would be the picture's quality. To put it in another way, you measure display space on a website by pixels. Websites sell advertisement space by grouping pixels into blocks like 480 px by 60 px, etc.
It is my habit to check Dawn's website almost three times in a day. A headline "PTI fundraiser aims for Guinness Book record" took my attention. Pakistan has found a recent passion in breaking world records and on the above, it seemed PTI volunteers did not want to be left behind.
However, the news story that followed the headline made me break my inactivity of months for it. (To be honest, I had no option but too add that filler at the start.) The online edition of Dawn said:
Ahmad Moeenuddin and Ali Mehdi of the PTI Youth Wing launched fundyourtsunami.com where blocks of pixels can be bought to colour an image on the website.
If you are a web-savvy person, you might have already guessed my source of excitement. Moeenuddin and Mehdi has done something that only people of their age and awareness can do. They have brought pixel marketing and politicking together. Are there any examples of such sort? I do not know any, but kudos to these two young men for thinking out of the box.
For the common man, there is a need of definitions at this point. First, what is a pixel (px)? To make it easy, pixel is like the smallest form of an image (consider it as a dot) on a monitor or any other digital display device. When many pixels join together, a clear image is formed. The higher the number of pixel, the better would be the picture's quality. To put it in another way, you measure display space on a website by pixels. Websites sell advertisement space by grouping pixels into blocks like 480 px by 60 px, etc.
Now you will ask why such enthusiasm when everyone is doing it? Well, technically, everyone is selling advertisement space. Pixel marketing begins when you create a full functional website and keep its primary display for sale. It was first developed in 2005 when a 21-year-old British student, Andy Tew created a website where he sold 20 px by 20 px. He called the website MillionDollarHomepage.com and created it for funding his university education. With smart efforts and a press release, he earned enough to survive the first year at university—all within the two weeks of the launch of website. Today, there is no space left to buy his website.
Come 2013, a new application has been put in use. Ahmad Moeenuddin and Ali Mehdi made FundYourTsunami.com to gather election funds for Pakistan Tehreek-i Insaf (PTI) (Pakistan's Movement of Justice). For every pixel bought, not only the color will appear in the block but a message from the buyer will be placed (and that too if he or she wishes). Till now, an amount of USD 16,051.00 has been collected. However, there is another important factor which made these young men act this way. PTI has promised upto 25% of its seats to candidates in the 25-35 age bracket. It is something that will strike a chord with many first time, politically motivated young voters. It seems PTI truly activated the educated young. This has worked for them in many ways. I even found a SoundCloud account, no idea if it is official. Yes, previously, there were times when their supporters engaged in discussion very harshly, but it seems that things are now under control.
Come 2013, a new application has been put in use. Ahmad Moeenuddin and Ali Mehdi made FundYourTsunami.com to gather election funds for Pakistan Tehreek-i Insaf (PTI) (Pakistan's Movement of Justice). For every pixel bought, not only the color will appear in the block but a message from the buyer will be placed (and that too if he or she wishes). Till now, an amount of USD 16,051.00 has been collected. However, there is another important factor which made these young men act this way. PTI has promised upto 25% of its seats to candidates in the 25-35 age bracket. It is something that will strike a chord with many first time, politically motivated young voters. It seems PTI truly activated the educated young. This has worked for them in many ways. I even found a SoundCloud account, no idea if it is official. Yes, previously, there were times when their supporters engaged in discussion very harshly, but it seems that things are now under control.
PTI's out-of-the-norm way of politicking is the need of time. With law and order in a fix, an active presence on all social media fronts can work wonders. The analysts who are not taking social media on count are quite unrealistic—and to an extent, irrational. This election is different, I can just feel it.
