Related: Mobile resources for Knight MLS2015

There's a big challenge with public engagement. It's relatively easy to get people initially excited, but difficult to sustain their attention and connection. Interactive text messaging can help bridge that gap -- but until recently, this hasn't been as simple as it could be. Textizen (a Knight-funded startup) has introduced a suite of interactive texting-powered engagement tools. 

Over the last decade, text messaging has grown mostly in two directions: interpersonal communication, and one-way alerts or updates (such as flight delay notifications, or breaking news alerts). Using text messaging for automated interactivity has proven more challenging.

Some organizations have harnessed the interactive potential of texting. For instance, ZipCar carshare members can text to extend their car reservation, or to lock the car's doors or honk the horn.

Textizen is a new platform for interactively engaging people via SMS (simple messaging service) text messaging. It was initially developed during the 2012 Code for America fellowship with the City of Philadelphia. After receiving a $350,000 Knight News Challenge grant in 2013, the Textizen team worked on developing a number of features that were rolled out in late 2014.

Textizen founder Michelle Lee explained the challenge of automated, interactive two-way texting. "Text messages are freeform. People can write anything. It's not easy for software to create meaning from text messages. That's why we help organizations have rich, useful conversations brokered by technology."

The Textizen platform supports several interactive text-focused features: surveys, feedback or data collection, mapping and other data visualization options, user-specific reminders and alerts, and more. These can be scheduled in advance, or sent out at predefined intervals. In addition to text messages, the platform can also accommodate picture messages (MMS).

Community members who voluntarily sign up for these services can sustain, deepen and broaden their engagement with local programs, issues, and institutions. This is especially useful for people who may lack the time, ability or interest to attend meetings or participate in more traditional forms of civic engagement.

For instance, One Region Forward (a collaborative effort to engage residents on long-term regional planning in the Buffalo-Niagara region of New York) uses Textizen to support their Text It Forward service. Community members who sign up for this service receive text messages, each containing a question about the region, plus a list of possible responses (each indicated by a letter. They reply with the letter of the answer of their choice. These survey answers are tallied and totals are available online.

And in Philadelphia, the Clean Air Council uses Textizen to support a citizen data-gathering initiative about trucks idling on city streets -- a considerable, and fixable, local source of air pollution. (See the Textizen blog for more information about how and where Textizen is being used to engage local communities.)

Organizations that use Textizen access it via a web interface. Administrator features include list segmentation, customizable reports (which can be viewed online or delivered by e-mail) and advanced graphing and analysis. This can help demonstrate the level and type of input and engagement enabled by this platform, useful for presenting to policymakers and others in order to influence local outcomes.

Turnkey access to Textizen can cost from $4,000 to $35,000, depending on the complexity of the implementation. Once a local government or organization has set up Textizen, it can deployed as often and in as many ways as they choose. For instance, a community foundation might get Textizen to offer as a support option for their grantees or partners, as well as to enhance donor engagement and support campaigns such local Giving Day campaigns.

While Texizen is currently focused on text and multimedia messaging, they're keeping an eye on evolving trends in messaging. "Right now, texting is just a proxy for a channel that can reach almost everyone, immediately and effectively," said Lee. "We have our eye on other platforms, such as Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger. As other mobile messaging tools become widespread enough, we'll consider pursuing them as well."