U.S. Secretary of State Encourages Use of New Media Communications in Pakistan: ‘Our Voice' Cell Phone Social Networking on #7111

October 29, 2009

Islamabad - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is an avid supporter of using new technologies to create social networks that help people share important information and build understanding. In this spirit, at a meeting with students at Government College in Lahore today, she announced support from the United States for the first Pakistani mobile phone-based social network, known as Humari Awaz  ("Our Voice"), which will be available using the free SMS shortcode 7111.

While many Pakistanis have no access to computers or the internet, mobile phone use is widespread, with over 95 million active accounts.  Many mobile phone users are also avid SMS, or "text" messages, sending millions of short, written notes each year. Humari Awaz will leverage SMS technology to allow Pakistanis to network on themes and subjects of their choice using their mobile phones.

The platform is available on all five mobile phone networks and allows users to register unique group themes or keywords and form communities via SMS subscription. They can then send real-time messages to all of their partners at once. All Humari Awaz participants have the option to either identify themselves or, if they wish, remain anonymous.

In the next few days, Pakistanis of all ages and backgrounds will be able to form communities of interest around cultural, civic, or economic issues via the SMS social network, Humari Awaz. In addition to linking friends and families, the network will be help anyone who needs to share information, from farmers and resellers who want to share market prices to businesses that wish to communicate with their staff on the road, to news outlets that want to share information with targeted groups.  U.S. support will cover the costs of the first 24 million Humari Awaz messages. To learn how to use Humari Awaz mobile users need only SMS the words "HELP" or "MADAD" to 7111.