Mobile Social Networking
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Mobile Social Networking.

Social networking websites have gone a long way since its first introduction to the World Wide Web. From its invasion in the Internet now comes social networking...mobile-style. As businessweek.com sees it, these “so-called ‘friend sites’ are wising up to wireless .“

Mobile social networking is defined by Wikipedia.org as “a social networking where one or more individuals of similar interests or commonalities, conversing and connecting with one another using the mobile phone.”

Perey Research and Consulting explains that mobile social newtworking “includes a diverse portfolio of technologies and services ranging from simple chat room services where people can meet others and join affinity groups with only texting tools, to multimedia-rich environments and UGC sharing communities which persist after the user logs off.”

Don't Carry a Heavy Load if You Don't Have to...

Keeping in touch with friends through these social networking sites, many of which are free, has been part of almost everybody’s daily routine. But it would be somewhat inconvenient if you bring a laptop with you everywhere and/or anywhere you go.

Social networking done the mobile way is “the ability to connect to these communities with a mobile phone, allowing people to access profiles and share content while they are on the go”, according M:Metrics. Sure you cannot expect someone to roam around with a laptop always at hand. With the introduction of mobile social networking, connecting with your online networks is possible with mobile phones.

This type of technological advancement is not only fun it is great for your online business as well as a brick and mortar. Why? Networking works - put simply, the more people you know, the greater your chance to increase online traffic. And traffic equals money

The Power of Wireless Ubiquity

Popular social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace have their own versions of mobile social networking. Facebook, in partnership with Apple’s iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm and Windows Mobile, has 25 million of mobile users each month according to AllFacebook, the unofficial Facebook resource. Myspace, on the other hand, has the largest mobile network in the United States and UK.

Sachendra Yadav lists the core values that a mobile phone brings to a social network: Location and Always-on communication medium. Portable devices are becoming more powerful and handy these days. With the aid of mobile phones, social networking is possible regardless of your location – well, wherever network signal is available, that is. In terms of location, mobile social networking allows its users to interact with each other while they are on the move.

Mobile phones, according to Yadav, “allow real-time feedback from the users and enables living in the moment”. Always-on communication medium means that users can paticipate in an event, give cooments, and share it with others in real time. As Yadav further added, “mobile phone provides richer social interaction.”

Final Words

Mobile phones, as an ubiquitous device for communication, let people connect with each other and in a way allows them to coordinate their activities without necessarily prearranging an agreed-upon time and location.

The anytime, anywhere wireless capability of mobile phones, aside from its portability, have transformed social networking to a higher and more sophisticated form of communicating in real-time. In connection to this, mobile social networking has proven itself on how important its role in influencing how people interact with each other.