More than just gaming, I like to see mobile platforms create a dedicated community that exists on the smartphones or mobile devices, it can create a more loyal customer base. Such a community can go beyond simply selling, chatting, or tweeting.


Other online society networks like Facebook or MySpace can be invited to participate. And much like the way Facebook works, dedicated platform social network can allow companies to participate and interact with the base. I'm sure if Apple offers companies the opportunity to introduce new products and services to the generally cash-rich Apple fans, they'll jump at the opportunity.


In owning a dedicated social network in a mobile device will enable platforms to own a larger control of their users' mobile experience. But I say "control" with an asterisk. Screw this up and it can end badly. Mobile platforms needs to make sure they provide the best possible experience because they competing with others in the market.

The Web is changing before our eyes. Traffic to almost every major media and portal site has been in a free-fall since September 2008, according to Nicholas Moerman, a planning intern with Proximity in London. This begs the question: If we are spending more time on the Web, not less, just where did our attention go? The answer is, unsurprisingly, social networking sites. According to Moerman's analysis, they buck the trend.

Social networking is on a tear. Other than Google, few sites loom larger today in brokering traffic and attention flows than Twitter and Facebook. The New York Times reported recently that Twitter will soon become one of its top 10 traffic drivers. Facebook alone grabs 25% of the entire Web's page views, according to an analysis by Perry Drake of Drake Direct.

Mobile is increasingly becoming a medium for access of social networking. According to a study conducted by e marketer on the mobile social network users, it was observed that the percentage of people accessing the social networking sites through mobile has increased at a rate of about 100% for the year 2007 to 2008 and by more than 50% by 2009 and is expected to continue at the same pace ultimately exceeding 800 million by 2012.

Be it networking by face book, microblogging by twitter or videocasting by youtube, mobile has created an easy and seamless way to drive consumers to mobile content.

Interesting mobile social networking campaign integration in Barcelona's metro (2 of 2)

Twitter, Facebook and future social networking and real-time web apps could "see off email in a decade" according to a British professor.

Professor David Zeitlyn from the University of Kent thinks the meteoric growth of websites like Facebook and Twitter in recent years spells the end of email as the leading form of online communication.

Social networking and real-time web apps are proving to be more appealing to younger users as they are faster and can easily be accessed anywhere on hundreds of mobile phones and devices.

Professor Zeitlyn claims 15 to 24-year-olds Brits already use instant messaging and social networking sites more often than they use email.

Further to my colleague Paul Verna’s post today about the smartphone factor in Twitter usage, I wanted to mention one of the key findings of my recently released “Mobile Social Networks: Marketing by Location Shows Potential” report (full version of the report available here for Total Access subscribers only):

From a usage perspective, mobile users are starting to access social networks with an even greater frequency than PC users, offering a glimpse into a possible future for other online content and media.

The report points to smartphones as the force behind this emerging usage pattern, noting that the contrast in levels of social networking activity between smartphone and non-smartphone users can be dramatic. Just to give a sense, according to comScore, smartphone users in the US indexed five times higher than non-smartphone users in terms of accessing social networking sites or blogs, while in the EU-5, smartphone owners indexed at approximately triple the rate of non-smartphone users for social networking activity.

Social network aggregation is a wonderful idea.

One place from which you can access Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and your tribe of IM buddies, rather than a bunch of separate applications. A great thing on the desktop, and an even greater thing on mobile.

The question is, who'll help you do it? There's a battle brewing, and would you believe it's shaping up as operators versus handset makers? With third-party app developers thrown in for added spice.

Start with the leaked information this weekend about Vodafone 360, which will apparently replace the Vodafone Live portal with an app store platform, but also social network aggregation features, allowing users to access Facebook and Twitter from one place.

In an attempt to give the so-called Twitterholics the access to their social networking stream on the go, mobile e-mail and texting supplier Peek has made the addition of the Twitter client to its listings of portable devices - with the launch of the dedicated 'TwitterPeek' in the US markets!

The TwitterPeek is being offered at a $100 cost along with a nearly $8 monthly service charge, or a lifetime service offer for $200, inclusive of the device. Meanwhile, the two other mobile text- oriented devices from Peek include the original $20-priced Peek Classic and the $60-priced Peek Pronto, both of which need a monthly service fee of $15.

Combining two of the hottest channels in marketing today, mobile and social, would seem a marketer's dream: rising mobile usage, consumers flocking to social networks, and social networking emerging as one of the fastest-growing activities among mobile users everywhere. But in reality, putting mobile and social together is not a classic one-plus-one-equals-three scenario. In fact, because mobile and social are still emerging channels, when you put the two of them together, you get an even less mature proposition.

Part of the problem is ownership: Who owns mobile marketing, who owns social programs, and who takes responsibility when those lines get not only crossed but also inextricably intertwined? And what steps do marketers take to gain a voice in the conversations taking place across mobile social networks? I go into these and other issues in detail in my upcoming eMarketer report on mobile social networking and location-based services, and it's really in the union of the two where the potential lies for marketers.

I just submitted a draft of new report on mobile social networking, which should be released in early November. It’s a fast-emerging space, and yet another example of consumers moving much faster than marketers. In other words, there are a lot more mobile users on social networks than there are marketers.

Part of the reason is the both mobile and social are emerging channels. Combine the two of them together, and well, you have an even less mature proposition. Not necessarily a lack of marketing opportunities, but more complications getting programs off the ground, as I learned from conversations with marketing executives. For example, here’s a snippet from my interview with Adam Broitman, co-founder of Cir.cus: