This month’s Fortumo user’s service is a great example of how every citizen can take part in country’s politics and government work. It is an innovative and simple way for everyone to say what they think. And all this – with the help of Fortumo’s services! Check out the interview with Meelis Valtna, one of the founders of this great idea!
What is your websit
e baromeeter.ee about?
Exaggeratedly and primitively said baromeeter.ee is “political rate” – for Estonians it says much (rate.ee is a very popular social network in Estonia based on ratings – M.V.). It is a laconic, emotionless website where you can assess Estonian parties’, government’s and parliament’s work.
Whom is it for?
Correct answer would be, of course, for everyone. Actually, baromeeter.ee is an effort to bring young people closer to politics through rating system which is very popular online activity for most of the young people in Estonia. In addition, giving votes and having rankings is playful and offers instant feedback. With this we also hope to give voice for those, who are in distance, doing their everyday stuff and mumble “My voice means nothing. So, it doesn’t matter.”. Well, it does matter and you can see the proof from baromeeter.ee! We also consider very important to recognise less known countryside politicians, who are not reflected that much in everyday news, but who do honest and genuine politics for their parish or town people.
Where did the idea of offering and starting a website like that come from?
The idea came in a small international company with friends of mine. We were discussing and commenting politicians’ everyday work and, suddenly, we started to wonder – why there is no place online where you can politely say to politicians – jerks! From there on we continued in a balanced state – if you want to say deservedly something bad to someone, you should also have an opportunity to say something nice for dignified and good action. Then, within few minutes, were born drafts with parliament’s honor and shame panels.
Where did the idea of using mobile payments come from?
SMS-voting seemed to be most trustful and operative way. All other voting systems didn’t suit us because of their slowness, inconvenience and their ease of manipulation.
How have you applied Fortumo mobile payments on your website?
Every praise and dispraise about parliament’s and government member goes through Fortumo mobile payment solution.
Why did you decide to use Fortumo for your online web-business?
The idea of baromeeter.ee started from an international company and we will most definitely start to work similarly in some other countries. We made a deal that Estonian website will be a “testlab” and indicator for IT-platform, voting system, etc. Our foreign partners also liked Fortumo, ‘cause it’s very easy to use internationally and with Fortumo’s services we will save a lot when we open other similar websites.
What have Fortumo mobile payment services additionally given you?
Simple and clear international service for voting is exactly what we need for our website. Fortumo is also good to keep our eye on all the earnings when operating in many countries at once. In addition to speed and dynamics, Fortumo is of course reliable. You cannot buy trust from any store, thus we are very pleased that we can have “additional services” – reliability with SMS-voting system and international partnership.
Exaggeratedly and primitively said baromeeter.ee is “political rate” – for Estonians it says much (rate.ee is a very popular social network in Estonia based on rating – edit.). It is a laconic, emotionless website where you can assess Estonian parties’, government’s and parliament’s work.
Whom is it for?
Correct answer would be, of course, “for everyone”. Actually, Baromeeter is an efford to bring young people closer to politics through a rating system that is very popular online activity for most of the young people in Estonia. In addition, giving votes and having rankings is playful and offers instant feedback. With this we hope to give voice also for those, who are in distance, doing their everyday stuff and mumble “My voice means nothing. So, it doesn’t matter”. Well, it does matter and you can see the proof from baromeeter.ee! We also consider very important to recognize less known countryside politicians, who are not reflected that much in everyday media, but who do honest and genuine politics for their parish or town people.
Where did the idea of offering and starting a website like that come from?
The idea came from a small international company of my friends. We were discussing and commenting politicians’ everyday work and, suddenly, started to wonder – why there is no a place online where you can politely say for politicians – jerks!
From there we continued balanced – if you want to say deservedly something bad to someone, you should also have an opportunity to say something nice for dignified and good action. Thus, within few minutes, were born drafts with parliament’s honor and shame panels.
How have you applied Fortumo SMS-services on your website?
Every praise and dispraise about parliament’s and governement member goes through Fortumo SMS-service.
Where did the idea of using SMS-services come from?
SMS-voting seemed to be most trustful and operative way. All other voting systems didn’t suit us because of their slowness, inconvenience and their ease for manipulation.
Why did you decide to use Fortumo SMS-services for your online web-business?
The idea of baromeeter.ee started from an international company and we will most definitely start to work similarly in some other countries. We made a deal that Estonian website will be so said testing site and indicator for IT-platform, voting system, etc. Our foreign partners also really liked Fortumo, ‘cause it’s very easy to use internationally and with Fortumo’s services we will save a lot when open other similar websites.
What have Fortumo SMS-services additionally given you?
Simple and clear international service for voting is exactly what we need for our website. Fortumo is also good for us to keep our eye on the earnings when operating in many countries at once. In addition to speed and dynamics, Fortumo is of course reliable. You cannot buy trust from any shop, thus we are very please that we can have as an “additional service” also trust in SMS-voting system and international partners.
