Mobile Social Networking is a relatively novel concept. It can also be called an offshoot of regular social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. The interesting thing here is will it catch on? As of right now mobile social networking is nowhere close to what the other regular social networking sites have accomplished in terms of content and also in terms of users.
The biggest new concept that has been introduced to us by the mobile social networks is the idea of tracking ones position with a inbuilt GPS system, so it can be conveyed to one's friend nearby. It is an innovative idea and can definitely help in emergency situations, so I see the importance of what this can become eventually. But the concerns lie in the privacy arena of things. A lot of people may not like these location based services, telling your friends where you are and even if one is alright with that idea another privacy issue lies in will the company providing the service store that data in it's archives to use for the company's own purposes. As always as technology advances, it can get more invasive into a person's lifestyle, but in the end is that a good or a bad thing?
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I certainly embrace the idea of real location services, I use them all the time on my Blackberry. However, I feel as though users should have complete control over where and how these services are used on their mobile devices. I have learned through friends that the iPhone allows its user to have control over location services by prompting the user on whether or not to activate them. Location based services can be a great benefit as long as people are able to control them.
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