Given that nearly half of Haiti’s population is under 25 years old and 80 percent of Haitians own a cellphone, Martelly’s affiliations with Haiti’s technorati and his decision to run a nimble campaign that carefully tapped the Haitian youth’s hunger for social media and mobile technology proved to be this election’s deciding factors. As blogger Giovanny Mehu declared in a recent post, “Mr. Martelly is one of the few President[ial] candidate[s] to be taking social media by storm, if not the first in the Caribbean.” While 70-year-old Manigat did conventional radio and TV appearances, Martelly not only matched her presence in these traditional mediums, but he also live streamed presentations and launched online and text-messaging campaigns. For example, in one promotion Martelly supporters on Twitter were encouraged to adorn their profiles with pink Twitter ribbons (or twibbons) bearing the slogan “Vote Tet Kale,” thus turning their pages into virtual billboards for Martelly’s campaign.

via Americas Quarterly – Martelly’s Online Popularity a Deciding Factor in Haitian Presidential Victory.