Obama's victory aided by mobiles?

And before the campaign dust even settles, the wireless industry is already proclaiming their technology’s role in the most historic US elections of all time. 

During this years hectic and whirlwind elections, mobile messaging has undoubtedly assisted in getting out the vote and transformed group messaging.

Mobile campaigning is credited with being a more cost-effective alternative to traditional campaigning methods, such as door-to-door canvassing which costs around US$20-$30 per voter, compared to $1.26 per SMS.

Research found that text message reminders to new voters increased an individual's likelihood of voting by close to five percentage points, according to a study by Princeton and Michigan Universities, together with the US Student Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) New Voter Project Mobile Voter and Working Assets.

John Hurley, Product Manager at Airwide Solutions, a mobile messaging firm, referring to the Democratic party's win, said, "One campaign was known for using mobile data as a mechanism for advertising itself and that one came out on top. I am not saying it is all attributable to mobile messaging, but it does show the appeal of the one campaign over the other in terms of reaching the youth."

"The McCain campaign missed a trick," Hurley continued.