Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Mobile/Wireless Computing
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Elgan: When LinkedIn knows where you are

How mobile social networking will transform business

September 2, 2008 12:00 PM ET

Active Comments
Anonymous says: Now I won't be able to duck that annoying salesperson I was pitched to six monhths ago and blew off....
Brian says: Mike, Great article! I think you are spot on with where business networking is going. It is really going to...


Computerworld - Within two years, I believe mobile social networking will become the most valuable business application since e-mail.

Instant messaging started out as a social life booster for teens, but evolved into a vital form of business communication. Social networking also got big first on MySpace, where teens decorated their pages with goofy pictures and the latest MP3s, but evolved into a widely used business networking tool on LinkedIn and other sites.

As we speak, the convergence of social networking and mobility is starting to grow worldwide among teenagers and young adults. ABI Research predicts that mobile social networking will reach 90 million new users over the next four years and rake in $3.3 billion.

Soon, like IM and PC-based social networking before it, the phenomenon will spread to business users for business purposes.

What is mobile social networking?

Mobile social networking is similar to regular social networking, but on a cell phone rather than a PC, and using location-based applications and hardware to augment social interaction.

Social networking is all about maintaining relationships and fostering community. Obviously, business people need to do that as well. But the mobile upgrade of social networking lets you get out of the office and connect with people face-to-face and take better advantage of in-person meetings and interactions that you're already having.

The idea of mobile social networking is to take advantage of four things:

  1. Location, which will be figured out by our cell phones using GPS, tower triangulation (how close to cell phone towers) and Wi-Fi (when indoors).
  2. Communication, both voice and data.
  3. Social networking software.
  4. Products and services.

The secret sauce here is location. Services will know where your phone is, and therefore will know where "you" are. That will improve the relevance of searches and facilitate real face-to-face interactions that will change how business works.

Who will provide the products and services?

The major players in this space, of course, will be existing carriers and handset makers and social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. Google plans to dominate this space, and I'm sure Microsoft will want to play eventually as well.

Google's Android platform may be widely used for the development of business mobile social networking very soon. But a lesser-known Google acquisition, called Zingku, may give Google a head start in mobile social networking.

Nokia acquired a company called Plazes, which provides location-centric social and product services.

But because this is an entirely new area, the field is up for grabs. Relatively unknown newcomers going after the youth social life market could grow to dominate business mobile social networking as well, or could be acquired by a major deep-pocket player and transformed for business. Some of these companies include AirG, Bluepulse, CenceMe, GyPSii, Mobimii, Moblr, MocoSpace, NearConn, WhosHere, Whrrl and ZKOUT.



Jump to comments

mobile social networking

Additional Resources

EFD vs. HDD - What You Need to Know
WHITE PAPER
Enterprise flash drives provide a new Tier 0 storage layer capable of delivering high I/O performance at a very low latency. Proper use of EFDs in an Oracle environment can deliver increased performance compared to fibre channel drives. Read the recommendations for identification of the best DB components for EFDs.
Gartner Research Report: Magic Quadrant for Application Delivery Controllers, 2009
WHITE PAPER
The market for products to improve the delivery of application software over networks remains dynamic and innovative. Vendors focused on solving enterprises' most-pressing application problems have become the top players.
Eight Criteria for Server Load Balancing
WHITE PAPER
Server load balancers are a simple yet highly effective means to scale an application environment while ensuring its availability. Today's solutions should also address application performance and security. Read about the top eight criteria you should consider when choosing a server load balancer and how Citrix NetScaler meets those requirements.

What People Are Saying

White Papers & Webcasts

Accelerating Your Mobile Workers: Controlling the Uncontrollable
Today's workforce is truly mobile. Unlike the managed environment of the office LAN, remote users face many challenges to being productive while out...

eGuide: Enterprise Security
Smart Security Strategies for 2010. Read now!  

Managing Laptops Outside the Office
Learn how you can reduce costs by tracking mobile computers no matter where they are located.

Mobile U Webinar
Watch Now!

The New Mobile Order
Download Now  

4G Ahead Video Program
Uncover the features and benefits of the two leading 4G technologies for enterprises considering future deployment.

WAN Application Delivery for Executives
Learn how to simplify server and application administration without creating performance problems for distributed users.  

Horror stories: Managing IT Across Multiple Locations
How one extra sharp IT manager eliminates daily agony, hassle and repetition.


IT Jobs