DISQUS

teejayhanton · 1 year ago

You've completely left out the iPhone-only social site iRovr.com. It used to use nothing but email ... so you could do everything from ANY device that sent emails. It's been a good six months since I've visited the site, but it looks like it now includes a "compose" screen on the site.

Simplicity is king. For me, a social site makes it easier to connect with people and track what my "friends" have posted. I prefer sites that track conversations and comments around a post (like Pownce or Plurk). Both have a strong mobile web site presence. Pownce also has an iPhone app and desktop app ... but I don't see any added value in those over visiting the web site via a browser.

Again, simplicity is king ... web-based apps will rule for a long time because they can be accessed from so many different devices and give almost the same experience.

Andy DeSoto · 1 year ago

Whoops, my bad. The name definitely feels familiar but I'd forgotten about it in the wash of downloadable app excitement. You're absolutely right, though: some of the web apps are absolutely fantastic.

I just want something that will help me be mobile with my friends on campus, in town, or in the neighborhood.

rugbydragon · 1 year ago

Andy and Jason, I think you make important points. It's hard to gain critical mass around mobile social networking (MSN). People simply won't bother unless they see value immediately, they are not likely to invite people either. Whrrl content, beyond MSN, is a move in the right direction, however whether the experience is sufficiently strong in comparison with Google maps, is questionable. Then there is the network effect, are people going to contribute, I have a couple of times, but not everyone will. People hate SMS charges, so I'm not sure if this is the best vehicle. I'm interested to see where iFob goes. This may have a chance, particularly as nobody as dared introductory services so far. I fear they may fall into the same chasm for lack of content.
Julian Bourne
CEO & Founder
Proxpro Inc.

Andy DeSoto · 1 year ago

You've encouraged me to give iFob another shot. The concept made me uncomfortable at first, and the merely average look and feel of the application had me uninstall it pretty quickly after installation, but perhaps it could benefit me one of these days, especially if it's a bit of a "fire and forget" type thing.

Especially if it introduces me to cute girls, eh!? Of course, chances of that are a bit low, considering the iPhone userbase...

jasoncrawford · 1 year ago

Good points; you're right that mobile social networks need to include more than iPhone users to be successful right now. Whrrl actually does this--it's available on the Web (www.whrrl.com), via SMS, on BlackBerries, and on several other non-iPhone phones. It's also pretty useful even without friends, just to see interesting places around you, although it gets much better as you grow your network.

Andy DeSoto · 1 year ago

Hi Jason, thanks for your comment! Good to hear that about Whrrl, I'll definitely need to play around with it some more-- as soon as I get out of this steel bunker and get my GPS functioning again, that is!

Your comment reminds me of an important point, and that's that sending an SMS/etc. to a friend enticing them to join a network seems so much more personal than shooting them a short e-mail. A phone is such a private thing. And since I don't know which of my friends tote mobile-ready devices, how do I know which ones to invite?

jasoncrawford · 1 year ago

Good point. On Whrrl, you can send invitations to new friends by
either SMS or email. If you won't want to bother your friends with
SMSes, just use their email addresses instead of their phone numbers.
This is especially easy on the web, since whrrl.com lets you import
your email address book.