Mobile phones: Putting social networks to work
I’ve learnt some pretty unsavory things using social networks. When I first signed up to Facebook it gave me with intimate details of my then girlfriend’s previous partners, their respective durations, and whether it was a simple ‘hook-up’ or a full-blown ‘relationship’. If it had included a star rating, I wouldn’t have been surprised.
The day I tapped into Twitter for the first time it gave me stomach-churning minute-by-minute updates on my contacts’ various illnesses (well, it was flu season). And let’s not get into the more ‘personal’ photos slapped all over MySpace. They’ll be scorched into my retinas forever.
It’s fair to say then, that until the last few weeks, I’ve been held social networking in mild contempt. But that was until last week, when a plane plonked itself into the Hudson River, slap bang in the middle of New York City.
I was casually flicking through Twitter on my mobile, when several tweets began flashing up. “OMG!” they screamed direct to the palm of my hand. “BIRD STRIKE!” “PLANE DOWN” and then, with a speed on the quick side of immediate, photos began to come in.
I was on a bus at the time, but that didn’t stop me seeing events as they unfolded, and by the time I was home, I knew more than was being repeated on TV news channels. Twitter users uploaded some stunning snapshots direct from the scene, along with reports from the ground. Meanwhile, the telly had one or two blurry clips from the shore, which they repeated over, and over, and over.
In a single moment, Twitter had proven its worth. Despite being the smallest social network, it’s the most progressive. So what’s up with all the others?
Sure, each network has its own USP. Facebook has put me in fleeting touch with some long lost friends, but even with the internet playing gooseberry, we still rarely speak.
At the moment Facebook remains too desktop-centric. It’s stuck in a photo-tagging, instant messaging rut. Why hasn’t the mobile version included live video streaming to share events with your mates? If Qik can do it, so can Facebook. And instead of telling me who updated their status through a phone, why not use cell-location and GPS to tell when they’re nearby? That way, I could respond to “Suchandsuch is bored…” by inviting them out bowling. Or for a pint. Probably the latter.
If Facebook simply must remain desktop bound, there’s an argument for using its powers for a greater good. The Anthony Nolan Trust recently used social networks to appeal for bone marrow donors. And it worked. Last month the charity said Facebook had been “one of the most powerful influences” in finding new donors.
But it could go much further. If I knew charities could call on me to donate a rare type of blood or bone marrow at a specific time of need, I’d gladly give my blood type and select medical details, in privacy, of course. It could single-handedly wipe out the donor register, and save countless lives. Now, wouldn’t that be a social networking success story?
But most social networks still ignore the power right under their nose. I’m staggered that Flickr, for instance, won’t let me search for photos by date and location, despite supporting geotagging for uploaded photos. Instead it needs keywords which are much slower. If it let me select an area and a time, I could have found mobile snaps of the New York plane crash from non-Twitterers. But it doesn’t, so I didn’t.
And there’s the crux – for social networking to become really useful, it needs to evolve into a truly mobile-friendly beast. Both Facebook and MySpace’s mobile apps offer little over their desktop counterparts, when the truth is there are simply more opportunities on mobile.
The user base is there. New Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Apple handsets geotag their produce by default, and users are gradually embracing mobile internet on their phones.
MySpace mobile gets billions of page impressions each month, and Facebook mobile has over 15 million active users. That’s 10% of the site’s entire audience using their phones to log on.
Twitter is much smaller, with a daily record of 60,000 tweets so far this month, but because of its immediacy and relevancy, it’s grabbing attention.
It’s clear we’re seeing the rebirth of social networking. It’s slowing making the move from a distracting (and, sometimes, unsavory) pastime to a genuine tool. But can the big boys keep up, or will Twitter steal their thunder? The opportunities are there, it’s up to Facebook and co to grab them.
James Holland is editor of Electricpig.co.uk. He twitters at @jamesholland and @electricpig. He’s also on MySpace and Facebook. Ex girlfriends need not apply.
Update: This article got featured on 26th January’s Carnival of the Mobilists, hosted this week by VoIP Survivor! Good times!
Tags: facebook, geotag, gps, mobile, Myspace, qik, social networking, twitter
I agree – what we need are tools that make mobile truly useful – not just smaller versions of desktop platforms.
What you are describing is the holy grail of the semantic web – or web 3.0 as some have called it.
To your point, the birthplace for the semantic web looks like it belongs on a mobile device….
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