3. Topics
1. Introduction
2. Features set
3. Common issues
a) Reaching critical mass
b) Building trust
c) Bringing it to life
d) Dealing with fragmentation
e) Obtaining location
4. Conclusions
5. Q&A
8. What is a social networking service?
A software/service for building online social
networks for communities of people who share
interests and/or activities
The most famous ones:
9. Why bother?
“40 percent of mobile web traffic heads to social networks”
Source: Opera mobile browser.
Mobile social networking revenues could reach $52 billion by
2012.” Source: Informa UK Ltd. ‘Mobile Social Networking:
Communities and Content on the Move’ Report.
“GPS-enabled handsets that will account for an estimated 78%
market share by 2012 end.” Source: Research and Markets, ‘World
GPS Market Forecast to 2012’.
Location is a key boost to social networks
More and more handsets & operators support location
More efficient advertising opportunities
Navigation is the mostly step 2 of the mobile user
Viral marketing
12. Around me
Where am I?
Where are my friends?
What is nearby?
Nearby friends Basic
Nearby locations Useful
Nearby content Fun
Photos
Videos
Comments
13. Communication
Contacting
A known friend
Unknown person
A business (Search result)
Means
Phone call
Video call (3G)
SMS
Instant messaging (IM)
Voice over IP (VoIP)
Issues
Disclosing details
Spoofing details
Costs
Tracking of communication
15. Content sharing
Incentives for generating content by users
Personal use of the content
Expectation for getting something in return
Getting to know better the system, curiosity
Feeling of making change, Ego,
The 90:9:1 thumb rule
90% Passive
9% Casual contributors
1% Massive contributors - They create most of the
content in the website
17. Critical mass
What is a critical mass?
A minimum number of
users that by actively
exchanging information
and sharing knowledge
they keep an online
community up and
running over time.
How to reach critical
mass in short time?
18. Fast growth
Use the existing contact
list
Add friends from other
networks
Facebook, LinkedIn, Orkut,
etc.
Invite friends from mail
accounts
Gmail, Yahoo, POP3 etc.
Suggest friends
Two 2nd degree links
Make use of groups
Fastest!
20. Building trust
Brand
Don’t spam – let the
user decide what and
when
Be careful with default
values (Examples:
default location
availability, photos
publicity etc.)
Protect against identity
theft
Digital signature and
code signing
21. Building trust
Legal protection
Minimum age for
signing-up
Separate to age groups
Parents/moderator
permission for adding a
friend/publish a photo
Privacy management
Location availability –
Opt ins
Location obfuscation
Time/place
23. Bringing it to life
How to make the
application ‘feel alive’?
Let it work from the first
moment
Friends availability
Content availability
“We were waiting just for
you”
News feeds
New content
More friends
“While you were gone…”
28. Obtaining location
Locationing methods
External (Bluetooth) GPS receiver
Internal GPS receiver
Network based
Cell ID
IP address
Manual
Other (Wi-Fi, others)
29. Obtaining location
Major differences
Accuracy
Good enough for navigation?
Good enough for local
search?
Good enough for local
advertising?
Availability
Through 3rd party provider
Built-in, API
Self implemented
Power consumption
What’s best for navigation
isn't essentially the best for
social networking
31. Product
Remember who your users are
Usage patterns
Implications on porting scope
Age
Implications on complexity and
legal issues
Buying ability
Implications on business model
Remember what your
application is for
Mostly for fun
Implications on GUI
Saving time <> Killing time
Implications on features set
32. Development
Don’t “invent the wheel”
Use existing API’s and
tools available
Aggregate users from
existing networks
Don’t shoot too far
Give the basic features
first and introduce more
advanced features later
Begin with a small group
of supported devices
Focus on what you’re
good at