“Things that are inherently social are inherently mobile…” Dustin Moskovitz, Facebook co-founder USAToday, Nov 13, 2007
Mashable said in 2007 that they were “bullish on mobile social networking.” A little early, but they were right. The planets are definitely in the process of getting aligned and mobile social is going to make much noise in ‘08. With MySpace and Facebook making moves into the social mobile space over the past couple of years, Nokia buying Twango, and Google buying up SMS companies (Dodgeball, Zingku and Jaiku) as well as making a run for a chunk of the wireless spectrum (and launching Android), things are appearing to come together. The only problem will be those pesky mounting monthly cell phone bills. Assuming Google has its way, though, this may be a non-issue.
I’ll have to admit, I’m late to the sms game. I hate phones – hate them. I don’t use them, when they ring I don’t answer them – I don’t care who it is. But now that I’ve spent a small fortune on my iPhone (my previous gig gave me a TREO, so consider me hooked on expensive pieces of ringing plastic), I feel compelled to get the most out of my shiny new toy. So I’ve been investigating this text messaging thing and I’m impressed.
Part of my awakening came when I visited family in Zambia a couple of years ago and saw that my parents-in-law were far more into this text message thing than I was. They manage a large part of their guest house business via the cell phone. I saw how farmers were using text messaging to get their work done. I saw how kids (teenagers, actually) were interacting with one another. All with inexpensive phones—no need to mess with messy Vista or expensive Macs. By the way, big ups to David Kobia and Eric Hersman for launching the incredible Ushahidi.com site that, through the use of SMS and other technologies, empowers people to chronicle acts of violence in post-election Kenya. Essential free plug.
In addition to the cost issue, there are some other problems that I see (obviously not deal breakers, but points of concern for me). Some random notes:
- Internet users are use to getting stuff for free, whereas SMSers are used to paying for their service. How will that gulf get bridged?
- Conformity in user interfaces and keying devices. Traditional phone keyboards vs Blackberry/Treos and iPhone keyboards—should there be a standard? Does it really matter?
- Preventing spam on your dime—Need to have trusted sources. To this end, Whrrl.com, a “social discovery” service, seems to be an interesting solution. It allows users to “share real-world adventures and discover places, events, and people through the chronicles of others.” Although only available in a few major cities, this does appear to work out the trust issue.
- Right now it seems that we are still in ramp-up mode – get as many people signed up as possible, we’ll worry about revenue later (a la Twitter). But how much are people willing to spend (monthly charges) or endure (ads)? I know who will pay – the horny. MeetMoi charges $10/month on top of your monthly charges to allow you to meet other singles in your area. AvaPeeps FlirtNation –- for $5/month on top of normal charges, you can flirt with people (“Peeps”) on Facebook, MySpace and your phone. It’s supposed to be some sort of social media game – you can create an avatar and have at it.
- Developing an interface that does not require you to click through screen after screen. Need to get in and get out as quickly as possible.
- Privacy—Those location-base “I know where you are/where you at” apps are scary (funny commercials though).
Some have argued the economics just aren’t there yet, others are obviously bullish—what do you think?
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