“We all want to change the world,” to quote John Lennon. Perhaps the biggest change taking place in society today is the growing popularity of social sites like MySpace.com and YouTube.com, virtual communities that have drawn millions.
The wireless industry has a fantastic chance to marry mobility with social Web sites thanks to today’s coveted youth demographic and their penchant for online chatter (whether through instant messaging or texting).
But as exciting as it may be to bring social networking to wireless, there are some potential landmines that must be addressed too. Digital Chocolate’s Trip Hawkins touched on these issues during a keynote session at CTIA’s Wireless I.T. and Entertainment show. Hawkins commented that flirting with someone over a cell phone is much like hitting on them at a nightclub. Not surprisingly, two women I talked with after that session-without any prompting on my part-disagreed, explaining that the idea of flirting via wireless creeped them out.
And therein is the challenge for the wireless industry: How do you get mobile communities to connect without “creeping out” members of that community? Giving out personal information in any environment, including a wireless one, can invite danger. That’s just a sad fact of life.
When someone is hitting on you in person, to continue Hawkins’ scenario, you have other senses that help you form judgments about that person. For example, is his body language saying the same thing as his words? It’s easy for a 50-year-old pedophile to pretend he’s a 13-year-old boy online and it likely will be an easy charade on the mobile social scene too-but much more difficult to pull off in person.
But wireless has a great characteristic that the online social networking world doesn’t quite have-tracking. As we saw in the infamous O.J. Simpson white Bronco chase and in the Scott Peterson murder trial, wireless cell sites provide detailed information about a caller’s location. We witnessed this just a few weeks ago when a 14-year-old South Carolina girl, kidnapped and held underground by a man, sent a text message to her mom, which ultimately led to her safe rescue.
Despite the potential for harm, wireless communities offer safe havens too-think of being on the go and still able to connect with people who think like you or hold the same interests as you. (The book, “Bowling Alone: The collapse and revival of American Community,” addresses the decline of traditional U.S. communities like bowling and gardening clubs.)
Wireless social sites can connect people in a society where, increasingly, people feel unconnected.
It’s revolutionary.
