Thoughts on mobile social networking

I remember about 5-6 years ago when mobile SMS premium services started out. There was no limit to the potential, and people setting up gateways were already spending the gold they had yet to collect from charging hapless mobile users endless amounts of micro-amounts for logos, ringtones, jokes etc.

Well, in some markets they succeeded. In others not quite so. And rightly so, I might add. Because it was totally driven with a blatant disregard about real, tangible end user value. A lot of companies died, and that would be the end of it. Apart from the fact that I’m starting to see some of the same with mobile social networking.

There is this great belief that people will take their social networking habits from Facebook, MySpace et al and move them onto their mobile phone. I think this is dead wrong for the majority of end users.

Every single time, I have come across people and talked to them about how they valued the mobile phone, I was met with the same message: Don’t touch our phone. You may intrude on me on the web, on TV, on outdoor etc, but keep your hands of my mobile phone. That’s mine.

This leads me to think that if we really are starting to think about mobile social networking - and it is obvious that it’s worth a thought - we should be looking in other directions.

Simply put, we should be looking at how we can enhance the utility of the social network that’s already in the phone, and which is the only thing that really matters to people at the end of the day: Their contacts.

What we need to do is to come up with new solutions to, how we - in a native embedded way - can enhance the contact book on the phone with new value added services. This hold several advantages.

First of all, we will be looking at something that’s already there, and for which end users are passionate, ie we don’t have to build or migrate a user base anywhere with all the explanations that go with that.

Second, if we can build true value adds into the system, device manufacturers can justify higher prices, and telco’s can possibly justify slighter higher subscriptions. That eliminates ads from the equation, which I think is pivotal to the success of mobile social networking (since I have yet to meet one single person, who in all honesty really want mobile ads on his or her mobile phone - not even if it pays for something else).

Finally, I think that looking to extend the contacts book is the next logical step for development of mobile phones and operator services. Why spend time getting distracted on things that seems like the third wheel on a two-wheel carriage? I mean, why? Honestly.

Vad NU! is a consultancy company owned by Mads Kristensen and specialized in helping clients take advantage of the business opportunities created by new media. Click to learn how I can help you and your company.