Discovery News: Etherized

A Different Kind of Political Candidate

As you ready yourself for tonight's final debate between Barack Obama and John McCain, I'd like to draw your attention to...wait for it...the Presidential election in Azerbaijan. Azeris went to the polls today to, well, give the incumbent Ilham Aliyev (son of the previous leader) yet another term in office. Expect a landslide; all of the major opposition groups boycotted the election. But one candidate didn't. Take a gander at Shiraslan Qurbanov, straight out of the Azeri heartland, according to his bio. My Azeri is a bit rusty, but I'm assured that the slogan reads, "The People's Candidate." Uncle Shiraslan, as he's known, just happens to be 70 years old today...on election day of all days. Again, according to his official bio.

But don't let Shiraslan's age fool you. The man seems to be an online whizkid. He's got lots of Azeris on his email list, not to mention his own slick website, his own Facebook page, and his own channel on YouTube. No wonder the younger generation is excited about Shiraslan's candidacy, no?

Bakhtiyar Hajiyev is the "political director" of Shiraslan's campaign. He told me in an interview today that "young Azeris are looking for new faces, new actors in Azerbaijani politics. Shiraslan is a very positive politician." Hajiyev pointed out as plusses not only his candidate's rejection of negative campaigning, but also his strong foreign policy.

Sounds too good to be true, right?

"It sounds like a paradox, but the only real opposition candidate in this election...is a virtual candidate," says Hajiyev.

Yep. Shiraslan only exists online. Hajiyev, who is a student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, worked with some other Azeri expats to create their own opposition candidate. At first, real opposition groups in Azerbaijan laughed Shiraslan off as a joke. But when they saw the success the virtual candidate was acheiving, they quickly started web sites and YouTube channels for their own, real candidates.

"We want to send a message that if there is no platform to discuss and reach people offline, you can at least try online. You can reach some voters, and create momentum," Hajiyev told me.

As for Shiraslan, no, he's not actually on the ballot. A cell phone text message campaign today urged those disinclined to vote to head to the polls, and scrawl Shiraslan's name across the ballot. Sure, that negates the ballot under Azeri law, but at least, the thinking goes, you might actually feel like voting.

And if all else fails, you can enjoy the Shiraslan rap. I'm pretty sure you can learn some useful Azeri swear words in here...but don't quote me on that.

Immerse Yourself...in Hell

I've written before about the power of video and computer games to persuade and educate. At their best, these kinds of persuasive games are not only fun and challenging to play, but they actually put you in the shoes of someone else, and give you a sense of what life is like for, say, a child searching for water in refugee camp in Darfur. Well, the British Red Cross has possibly just gone one step better. As part of the organization's month-long effort to draw attention to the plight of civilains in conflict zones, it's launched an Alternative Reality Game (ARG) called Traces of Hope.

ARGs mix storytelling, game play and detective work, and in doing so, take the idea of persuasive gaming to a whole new level. In Traces of Hope, you register to play, and then are immediately contacted by Joseph, a fictional 16 year old from northern Uganda. He needs you to help him find his mother, from whom he has been separated. Joseph has been displaced (like some two million real people) by the two-decades long conflict there. The real stuff is as nasty as it gets, folks -- civil war, kidnappings, and the use of children as soldiers and sex slaves.

After being contacted by Joseph, you get completely immersed in the game. You have to track down information scattered across various websites. You may also be asked to send emails and make phone calls in an effort to help Joseph find his mother.

The game is meant not only to highlight the Red Cross' family-tracing service, but to also give players the feel of being a teenager, scared and alone in the midst of war.

ARGs have mostly been used around commercial ventures -- think of the online mysteries created surrounding the film Cloverfield. This is the first instance I've heard of a charity trying it.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Charity launches internet game to help Ugandan boy find his mother
• Alternate Reality Games: What Makes or Breaks Them?
• ARG is an alternative way to play with real-world problems