Mobile Social Networking Sites
All of the sites listed below share a certain set of features, which are common to all mobile social networking sites. They allow the user to create a profile, send and receive text messages via phone or computer, and visit an on-line version of the mobile site.
Beyond that, there seems to be six rough models that the sites adhere to. The vast majority of them offer services that overlap heavily with other sites. Almost all of them claim to be unique, which isn’t a lie exactly… more of a bending of the truth. Most of these sites do have some unique feature or special function that other sites don’t share, but the main function of the site is the exact same as other services.
A – The Group Texter
This site focuses on the ability to send short, text-based messages to a large number of people at once. Whether it’s by SMS or micro-blog, this site wants to get your words to the right people as quickly and simply as possible.
B – The Radar
The Radar knows where you are and knows where your friends are. These sites really take advantage of the growing interest in location-based services by keeping track of the where your contacts are. If you’re sitting alone in a cafe and want to have a chat, this kind of site can tell you if anyone you know is close by. A lot of these sites also allow you to check if there’s anyone near a particular venue or location, and some of them will actively alert you if any of your contacts comes within a certain distance of you!
C – The Geotagger
These sites are all heavily location-based. They allow users to tag particular locations with images and information. These tags appear on a world map that’s accessible by any user, and some of them will alert you if you pass by somewhere that has been tagged by another user.
D – The Dating Service
These sites are almost identical versions of their on-line counterparts. Users create a profile and are matched with other profiles on-line. Some of these sites use Radar qualities, so that they ping you if there’s a matching single within a certain distance! These sites are also marked by quite serious security measures, being quite careful to ensure that no personal details (or your exact location) are released without your consent.
E – The Social Networker
This type of site tries to model on-line social networking sites as closely as possible. In many cases they are simply mobile portals of an already successful site like Facebook or Bebo. They offer an extremely wide series of functions, including multi-media posts, chatrooms, photo sharing, instant messaging and customisable web-pages. Many of them also offer inexpensive international phone calls and SMS for the price wary.
F – The Media Share
These sites are the video and audio version of the Group Texter. They are only concerned with sharing files as quickly and efficiently as possible with your friends and groups. Most of them store your phone content on-line so that your mobile doesn’t get clogged with large video files. Quite a few also accept streaming content from your phone and broadcast it automatically… very dangerous on those drunken nights out!
Now, obviously the list of sites below isn’t exhaustive. If you know of any sites that I’ve failed to inlude here, or if you think I’ve made a mistake in terms of the description or categorisation of the sites below, please send me a mail at cian@gomonews.net
Name | Description | Type | |
1 | 3jam | www.3jam.com is a free web-text service that sends single or group texts to and from PCs and mobile phones, and supports most video and audio formats. | A |
2 | aki-aki | Based in Germany, but also available in English, www.aki-aki.com automatically notifies you when any other subscribers who are nearby. | B |
3 | brightkite | www.brightkite.com is a location-based social network, allowing you to keep up to date with where your friends are and what they’re doing | B |
4 | Broadtexter | www.broadtexter.com is for sending text messages to large groups of people. Users create a “club”, and can send free texts to all subscribers to that club. | A |
5 | buddyping | Send a text message to www.buddyping.com, and it will respond with a list of any friends or events happening in or near your location. | B |
6 | Dodgeball | www.dodgeball.com allows you to broadcast your current location or a short message to anyone within a 10 block radius, based on your friends (and friends-of-friends) list. | B |
7 | flagr | www.flagr.com is a geo-tagging service that allows you to access user-generated on-line maps, photos and information. | C |
8 | Flixwagon | www.flixwagon.com streams videos live from your cameraphone, and publishes them directly to your flixwagon account. It can even publish them straight to Youtube, for those who are brave or very careful. | F |
9 | Friendstribe | www.friendstribe.com is a location-based service that helps you and your friends track each other, send mass texts quickly, and get everyone at the same place at the same time. You can also locate venues or message everyone who’s near a chosen place. | B |
10 | funkysexycool | A mobile phone enabled dating service, www.funkysexycool.com allows users to create a personal profile, and browse surface information about other users. | D |
11 | gatsb | Essentially flickr on mobile phone, www.gatsb.com is dedicated to sharing geo-tagged photographs between users. | C |
12 | Groovr | www.groovr.com allows you to share text, pictures, videos and location information between PCs and mobile phones. It’s based on chatrooms, with different levels of privacy and a “Circle of Trust” to determine who you can send and receive from. | E |
13 | Hobonobster | www.hobonobster.com is a profile-centred, friend finding service. All profiles are public and can be searched by other members. It’s more focused on meeting new people and dating then on maintaining a social circle. | D |
14 | imity | Using bluetooth, www.imity.com detects any other imity users that are near you, and keeps a record of who you’ve met, and when. | B |
15 | itsmy.com | www.itsmy.com is dedicated solely to sharing cameraphone videos, to the extent that they don’t even allow you to upload videos via PC. You have to upload from your phone to their mobile site. | F |
16 | Jaiku | www.jaiku.com shares an online log of your day, including messages, events and photos through “activity streams”. Jaiku Mobile allows you to view other users streams through your contacts list. | E |
17 | JuiceCaster | www.juicecaster.com lets you create a profile and share messages, pictures and videos with your friends. You can also use it to update other social networking sites incuding Twitter, Bebo and Facebook. | E |
18 | JYGY | www.jygy.com focuses on mobile services called “grooves” that you can make and share with your friends. Grooves are small, highly customisable web-pages you can tailor to whatever function you’re interested in, from polls to chatpages. | E |
19 | LoopNote | www.loopnote.com users create a “loop”, and can send free texts to all subscribers to that loop. Loops can be browsed quickly on your mobile by tags. | A |
20 | meetMoi | www.meetmoi.com is specifically a dating service. You create your profile, and it tracks you in real-time and alerts you whenever another meetMoi single is near you, without revealing actual locations. | D |
21 | mig33 | www.mig33.com prioritises free (or at least cheap) global communication by offering services like VoIP, Skype and IM on your mobile. | G |
22 | Mobagetown | Another Japanese site, www.mobagetown.com is completely dedicated to making revenue from free games. Members have customisable avatars, but the customisations are dependent on how many ads you watch. This is the only gaming dedicated Social Networking Site on this list, so it will be uncategorised until it’s joined by a few more! | |
23 | Mobikade | Based on a popular Japanese model, http://www2.mkade.com/ creates a mobile space to which you can post text and images. Privacy settings allow you to dictate who can view each individual update. | E |
24 | mobiluck | www.mobiluck.com is a location-based service. It helps you see where your friends are, offers SMS alerts whenever a friend is nearby, and has thorough privacy options. | B |
25 | mobiSiteGalore | A free mobile website builder, www.mobisitegalore.com was the first site that allowed you to build a mobile website on a mobile phone. | E |
26 | moblabber | Concentrating on group texts, www.moblabber.com allows users to create and join groups. Groups are organised by category, and texts are sent to all members of your group. | A |
27 | Mocospace | www.mocospace.com is America’s largest mobile social networking site. It allows mobile chat, instant messaging, photo and video sharing, and forums. | E |
28 | MyGamma | www.mygamma.com centres on blog and photo sharing. It offers the opportunity to keep contact between communities of invite-only friends, or to shout your presence to the world at large. | E |
29 | Myspace / Facebook / Bebo / LiveJournal / etc. | Almost all of the large social networking sites have their own mobile portals, links to which are available from the parent site. | E |
30 | Next2Friends | www.next2friends.com calls itself a mobile social media platform, combining elements of social networking, media sharing and location-based services. | E |
31 | NowThen | www.nowthen.com is dedicated to storing and broadcasting your mobile phone pics. You can send them to other phones, mobile devices and PCs, or publish them on other networking sites. | F |
32 | PlacesTodo | Available only in New York City, www.placestodo.com allows you to tag a location with a “to do”. Whenever you activate the site, it reminds you of all your to do’s within a 5 block radius. You can also view and share to do lists with other users. | B/C |
33 | Rabble | www.rabble.com is a location-based service that allows you to host and create text, picture and video files and share them with nearby rabble users who share similar interests. | B |
34 | Radar | www.radar.com shares your cameraphone pictures and videos with a friends-only list of other users. It alerts you whenever a friend posts something. | F |
35 | Shozu | www.shozu.com interfaces with over 50 other social and news sites. It allows photo and video uploads and has live-feeds that download your friends updates as they post them. | E |
36 | Socialight | A location-based service, socialight.com allows users to tag on-line maps with “stickies” containing text and media information. Other users can access these stickies, and socialight alerts you when you approach one. | C |
37 | Treemo | www.treemo.com allows you to move photos, videos and audio files from your phone and store them on a personalised mobile website which can be browsed by other users | F |
38 | Twitter | www.twitter.com is a text-based micro-blogging service. It allows you to send and recieve short messages for free with other users on either PC or mobile phone. | A |
39 | Veeker | Mostly dedicated to media files, www.veeker.com specialises in sending videos, pictures and webcam messages from your phone or PC to any phone. | F |
40 | Wadja | www.wadja.com is a cross-platform site. It is based heavily on bebo, but allows full and easy access from the mobile internet. | E |
41 | Zannel | Post text, video and audio updates with www.zannel.com. Updates are viewable online or on mobile, and can embed on blogs, websites and social networks. | E |
42 | Zemble | www.zemble.com is a group text site. It allows you to send and receive texts to/from whatever groups you’re subscribed to. Your responses can go to either the entire group or just the message sender | A |
43 | Zinadoo | www.zinadoo.com makes it easy for users to create their own fully customisable mobile website, complete with links to other sites, texting, email, widgets and RSS feeds. | E |
44 | Zingku | Designed to increase the usefulness of text messages, www.zingku.com concentrates on allowing large images, videos and music to be sent easily via “mobile flyers”. This service was designed to be of interest to mobile advertisers. | F |
45 | Zyb | www.zyb.com is an online database of all of your mobile phone contacts. It automatically updates your phonebook, and accesses information on your friends from other social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Bebo. | E |
