Social networking via wireless handheld devices (cellphones)

Social networking has become an addiction that has taken hold of the generation that grew up with the Internet. Posting pictures, videos and information about ourselves has become second nature, rarely do we question this everyday fact of life. It is natural for the trend to travel to the most common instrument of technology: the cellphone. You cannot leave home without it for fear of not being connected with the world. The major cellphone carriers now offered ways to keeps people even more connected! Applications for social networks!

Blackberry offers apps for Facebook, flickr, myspace.

iPhone offers 157 applications in the Social Networking category for application. The most Popular are Facebook, IM+ for Skype, eBuddy Lite Messenger.

Verizon wireless offers 16 applications in the Community and Sharing section of the products available for phones. The most popular applications are designed to share photos.

These applications have been modified to fit the smaller screens but still function in the exact same manner as on computers.

Here is an interview with a programmer that aggregates social networks on cell phones at CES 2009.

IBM blogging, guidelines and such.

The articleby Justin Allen, “IBM’s blogging policy increases engagement” was delivered to me by my subscription to Ragan Headlines! Thanks Ragan!

This article was particularly interesting because IBM is an enormous technology company, having been one of the original computer companies it has expanded into every aspect of the Internet and computer technology. As such a huge company it is very difficult for employees to communicate with each other and their bosses because of the structure of the company and the multitudes of offices around the world.

Ethan McCarty, the editor in chief of IBM’s intranet wanted to hear more from employees so he set up a wiki with the employees that he already know blogged and asked them to help set up guidelines for blogging. The employees obliged and a set of guidelines was created and sent to employees in every sector of the company so they could have the opportunity to blog. It worked. Using these guidelines the company has started conversations throughout the company that have been productive.

1. Blogs, wikis and other forms of online discourse are individual interactions, not corporate communications.

2. Identify yourself

3. If you publish a blog or post to a blog outside of IBM

4. Respect copyright, fair use and financial disclosure laws.

5. Don’t provide IBM’s or another’s confidential or other proprietary information.

6. Don’t cite or reference clients, partners or suppliers without their approval.

7. Respect your audience.

8. Find out who else is blogging on the topic and cite them.

9. Don’t pick fights,

10. Try to add value.

IBM bloggers are all available in the IBM blog directory for reading within the organization and for the public.

In this video, Ethan McCarty further discusses IBM’s blogging policy and how it has benefited the company.

Have you BBM’d today?

The phenomenon of having instant messaging specifically designed for the Blackberry platform has taken cellphone interactivity to the next level. Blackberry BBMs are conversations in Realtime.

Urban Dictionary defines BBM as “Black berry messenger (noun)
To black berry message (verb) can be used “to bbm”
An instant messaging application on blackberries where you can see if the message has been delivered, when it was delivered and if the person has read it.

The example of how a BBM is used in conversation is:

Alissa: Hey I bbmed you yesterday and you never answered!
Me: Oh, I never got your bbms.
Alissa: Yes you did! Don’t lie, I saw on our conversation that you received them.
Me: Darn, I wish I didn’t open that bbm!

Blackberry users can connect with other Blackberries by exchanging pin numbers. The network is different from the traditional network used by text messages.

The BBM is the evolution of the text message. The text message was the evolution of the instant message. The instant message was the evolution of the email. The question becomes, what is next? As technology allows more interactivity it is fun to wonder what can possibly evolve from instantaneous conversation.