Cellphone Social Networking On The Move

Forum Moderators: rogerd

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Cellphone Social Networking On The Move

engine

12:45 pm on Mar 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

Social networks may be nothing new to habitués of the Internet. Several years of competition among Facebook, MySpace and Friendster have generated tens of millions of members.
But now the market is teeming with companies that want to bring the same phenomenon to the cellphone. There are so many “mobile social networking” upstarts, in fact, that when New Media Age magazine in Britain tried to identify the “ones to watch,” it ended up naming 10 companies.
Some of those in the thick of battle are resigned to having a lot of company. “If there weren’t competitors, there wouldn’t be a market,” said Dan Harple, founder and chief executive of GyPSii, a mobile social network based in Amsterdam that is a contender. “Maybe there are 30 or more now — in three years, there will be 5 that matter.”

Cellphone Social Networking On The Move [nytimes.com]

rogerd

2:36 pm on Mar 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

I do think there's plenty of potential. As phones get away from postage-stamp sized screens and numeric-only keypads, they become a lot more versatile devices. Bigger, higher-res screens and multiple input methods make these services a lot more viable. Then there's the increasing availability of geo-location for phone users.

weeks

3:39 pm on Mar 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

The entire social networking thing creaps me out. Combine it with geo-location and I start thinking about going off the grid.

aleksl

3:46 pm on Mar 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

off the grid!

"social" should be in quotes - the right name is anti-social networks

lexipixel

5:11 pm on Mar 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

I agree Aleksl... I cringe when I see what's happeneng. I don't know if I actually coined it first, but I did post back in October on the subject:

I want to coin a phrase:
anti-social networking; the combined and ongoing acts of disseminating or perusing information online in a non-personal way so as to have no actual social contact.
-lexipixel (Oct. 21, 2007)
[webmasterworld.com...]

I remember the old days, when someone new moved into your neighborhood, you'd stop by and introduce yourself -- maybe bring a plate of baked goods and welcome them to the neighborhood.

Now we're down to:

User1: wasup
User2: nuthin u
User1: nuthin
User1: k ttyl
User2: k bye

Yes -- I have seen that term "ok" abbreviated to just "k".... Cavemen grunting carried more in-depth meaning, (and I hope the Geico cave-dude doesn't get on my case for the comparison)....<grin>

Hugene

7:29 pm on Mar 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

social networks are a FAD people, wake up. Facebook is already going down, and in a few years they all will be ubiquitous applications, forgotten in the history of the web.

You should look for the new new thing, not the old thing on the new device.

You should think of what can the new thing be on the new device?

SEOMike

3:05 am on Mar 8, 2008 (gmt 0)

social networks are a FAD people

I'm not sure I 100% agree. I do believe that their current form may be a fad, but social networks will probably be around in one form or another for quite a while. (Take Linkedin for example, seems to be growing all the time) For non-professional social networks, the feeling of complete anonymity and the ability to say anything you want without repercussion is a powerful draw.

Also, teen girls are fast becoming the most prolific content generators on the net... what else are they going to do with the net except gossip? :)