So the new iphone 3G is due out in July I’ve been watching with interest the development of facebook and wondering when users will get bored and move back to traditional social networking i.e. meeting your friends in a physical sense, just as they did once they had contacted all their old school friends on Friends Reunited and once they had collected a few hundred musician mates on Myspace.
Social networking applications are clearly on the rise and we are certainly at the beginning of the phenomenon. The problem with current systems is that you have to be sat at your PC, set them up, logon, and it’s not always convenient, especially when you’re at work or out and about.
There is however an exceptionally accurate reflection of your social network that hasn’t been fully exploited. And yet you carry it on your person at all times and comes with all the gadgetry you need to social network, the humble and still underutilised mobile phone.
So here I am watching the impressive demo of the new iphone and some of the new applications and in particular loopt, which does finally capitalise on your phones capabilities. It’s an application, not a website, update your status, change your profile photo, and all this is reflected instantly on the contacts list of your friend’s phone. Next, plot your friend’s current position on maps, sort your contacts list by how close they are at that very moment. It does sound a bit scary but when this technology is the hands of the younger generations do you really believe they will go to a PC to social network?