What’s the first mass penetration mobile social network?

If I asked you whether you were a member of a mobile social network the chances are high that you would say no.

But consider for a moment the key functionality that brings Twitter alive -

• The moment you download a mobile app for Twitter

Because I would argue that Twitter is really not a 2nd screen social network any more, its a 3rd screen or mobile social network.

I was first invited to join Twitter in Jan 07 and frankly I couldn’t see the point. My friend @Tinley sent me an invite and at the time many of the posts people were making were around their personal lives. I enjoyed reading theirs, but really didn’t think anyone would be interested in mine.  Later after pestering from more friends  I thought I would join. But I didn’t really engage until I started to use my phone. After all, if you have a great idea in a pub you are hardly likely to rush home, log on and tweet at that moment.  And Twitter is all about the moment so you need a method of connecting with it that is with you moment by moment – your mobile.

For example without the mobile angle Twitter wouldn’t have been able to bring us the NY aircrash.

Mobile, not desktop  is fundamental to the success of Twitter. And yet we still think about it as a web social network with a mobile appendage attached. I’m just turning that round. It’s just a different way of looking at something familiar that could open up a whole world of ideas.

Here are some other posts on the subject:-

http://www.telecomtv.com/comspace_newsDetail.aspx?n=45188&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10#

links for 2009-07-21

• 22 Reasons why people go online
  Get some ideas or check out whether what you are doing is relevant to your audience!
  (tags: online motivation marketing content information trends open creative creativity culture current demographics data)

links for 2009-07-11

• Social Media Ad Metrics Definitions
  From the IAB US – a stick in the ground for measurement.
  (tags: marketing advertising 2.0 socialmedia media ad 2009 applications books analytics measurement ads social)
• Bruce Sterling's closing talk at Reboot — life in the next decade …
  Video of his talk at Reboot – Interesting approaches to what the future might look like. Scary, interesting.
  (tags: web media brucesterling future art trends transmedia thought development culture)

Digital divas

I went to Reboot Britain this Monday, a conference that was investigating how digital activations can address some of the incredibly difficult issues – social and political – that are approaching us and that are already here. One refreshing aspect of the conference which reflects well on the public sector was the mix of  really interesting speakers. It’s something I’ve noted before that there is often a lack of female speakers at high profile conferences. Though women have as much to say and as much experience in digital environments  as men they are often not up on the podium, so having enjoyed a conference which I think offered a good balance and some excellent female speakers I can’t pass up referring to it! If nothing else to bring these brilliant women to the attention of other conference organisers. Perhaps the title of this post gives that away! (But I’m not going to stop there. I also want to list some other women I would like to hear speak at conferences and who I believe have interesting things to say/contribute. )

But before I do I really need to mention a couple of the excellent sessions not by women! The keynote was given by Jeremy Hunt, the shadow Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, who referenced the need in government in general to think more flexibly about the intersection between online and policy making and also talked about the digital divide, the fact that only 1/3  of our population are actually online. I also enjoyed hearing David Price from Debate Graph explaining how this tool works to enable people to understand and participate in discussions about policy. Finally, there was a great talk by Graeme Duncan from Caspian Learning about how video games, game play and virtual environments can provide amazing learning spaces for kids.

Enough already! What about the Digital Divas?

M T Rainey – started in adland, founded Horsesmouth. Articulate with interesting ideas about female and male self-expressions in digital environments
http://www.smarta.com/inspiration/interview-videos/interviews/MT-Rainey–Horsesmouth

Joanne Jacobs – social media consultant, ex-lecturer, iconoclast and straight-talker, not to mention coder.
http://joannejacobs.net/

Debra Szbeko – making a great case for and business from using media models to help people to understand and engage with difficult policy issues which affect them. http://thinkpublic.com/news/

And some others who weren’t at the conference but who I find interesting and think would speak very well about useful stuff:-

Janine Smith – Creative Director at Que Pasa, charming, mobile creative  - http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=6921338&authToken=Sx4q&authType=name&trk=coprofile_in_network

Amelia Torode – blogger, thinker and inspirational planner, Head of Strategy and Innovation at VCCP

Sandrine Plasseraud – Social media native and enthusiast, established blogger http://sandrineplasseraud.com