Metafluence

Watch out for microblogging

Early social networks such as SixDegrees and Friendster paved the way for the explosion of MySpace. MySpace was the game changing social network that normalized the idea of socializing online. Now, we’re up to our ears in social networks trying to cash in on the phenomena. Just when we thought there was no more room, another space has emerged that threatens the time on site dominance of MySpace and Facebook. That space is the mobile-friendly, microblogging format. The contenders are Twitter, Jaiku, and Pownce.

All three are vying to be the winner of what might prove to be the most important social space to emerge on the Internet: the mobile friendly social network. Our industry has been aware of the coming impact from the mobile space for more than a decade, but these are some of the first sites to extend the power of social networking to a mobile device. Further, they make some of the most compelling arguments for why mobile space will prove to be a useful one. Why does extending their services to a mobile device matter so much? Because socializing online, alone at one’s house is only so much fun for so long. Don’t get me wrong, I remember several nights where I cracked out on MySpace until the sun rose the following day. However, I haven’t been on MySpace for months because I lost the desire to pour endless hours into virtual friends limited to a single network. Whereas interacting with real people while I’m out in the real world through an easy to use mobile device is highly attractive. I like the idea of finding out where my friends are on Saturday night with the intention of meeting up with them. I like the idea of browsing through profiles of people in the room with the intention of striking up a conversation. I like the idea of discovering a new restaurant because a friend left me a GPS triggered recommendation. While the last two ideas have yet to be realized, the first one made Twitter a raving success at this year’s SXSW.

Mobile compatibility is just one part of these NKONTB’s arsenal. They also play nicely with each other. I like that I’m not limited to the members of the originating technology’s community. I know Twitter and Jaiku offer their service in a widget format (not sure about Pownce) that integrates nicely with other websites such as your own blog, your profile on another community, or your feed reader. Using their service doesn’t require me to login to their website. I’m a Twitter user and I rarely see their site. At the same time, it is nice to use their site for heavier lifting activities.

Twitter, Jaiku, and Pownce are based on a microblogging format, which also doesn’t suck me away from the real world for hours on end. In fact, I don’t have to be on a computer at all, which means I’m more apt to participate. It’s more immediate, spontaneous, and compulsory. Developers are already tapping the Twitter API to draw meaningful conclusions from the data flow.

Jaiku was the first to this party, followed by Twitter, and then validated by Pownce’s entrance in the market. Jaiku’s interest was all about microblogging. Twitter was focused on what we’re doing at the moment. Pownce, which is Digg’s founder Kevin Rose’s latest venture, learned from both of them and stepped up the functionality to better support sharing encapsulated assets within the messages.

The emergence of these communities doesn’t mark the end of long form blog posts or seated online socializing. It fills in the space between. It’s the same fuel that has been driving text messaging and email, but with smarter features and networked profiles. I look forward to innovation in this space over the next few years. Places to watch for innovation are GPS powered features, more sophisticated subscription options, and information control (a concept that was formerly known as privacy).

Have you used any of these services? What do you think of them? What impact do you think they’ll have in the future?