Wired Places

Internet-based social software may still evoke images of
unkempt, anonymous techies holed up in their underwear in front of
glowing screens, interacting with other faceless characters in
cyberspace, but that era is fast coming to a close. With the advent
of MoSoSo, Mobile Social Software, cyber-socializing is initiating
face-to-face interaction. So you better take a look in a mirror
before logging on to the social software on your mobile device,
because that cutie at the front of the bus with a high-tech phone
might be checking out your profile.

MoSoSo is an up-and-coming technology that allows users of
mobile phones, PDAs, and laptops to discover and make contact with
other people nearby. Many MoSoSo services operate similarly to
other online social networks like
Friendster, or
MySpace, allowing users to
create personal profiles and connect with people who have similar
interests. MoSoSo takes the place-based element of popular internet
social software to the next level, not only enabling people to meet
others after connecting in cyberspace, but providing a way for
people to meet the folks who happen to be in the same place at the
same time.

Some MoSoSo services, like
Playtxt in the UK,
market their software to club crowds who might use it to meet
people frequenting the same watering hole. Google’s
Dodgeball targets a similar
crowd of young urban folk, allowing users to search for and
discover potential friends or objects of affection in the immediate
area. But MoSoSo isn’t just for hooking up. It can also be a
protest tool. The
Institute for Applied
Autonomy developed TxtMob
to be used by protesters to send text messages to one another at
the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in 2004.

Though MoSoSo technology is proliferating, it hasn’t yet reached
a critical mass of users to make it widespread among its target
demographic: young urbanites. But the impending international
mass-market release of hybrid phones may be all it takes to make
MoSoSo a part of everyday communication. To explore the array of
MoSoSo available around the globe, take a look at
m-trends.org
and

elasticspace.com’s list of mobile social software applications.
And to keep track of the latest trends in MoSoSo, check out the
blog
LBS-mososo.

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MoSoSo
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Mobile Social Software Applications

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