Why Mobile Could Reinvent Social Computing

Mobile social activity is more than just accessing social networking sites while on the go. Mobile phones have the potential to become the hub of Social Computing activities and to be more than just a complement to the PC experience. Mobile phones will increasingly become the glue that holds the social graph together, offering creative tools and immediacy, presence, location, and context when interacting with the real world. The "always on" mobile connected handset frees the Social Web from the chains of the PC and thrusts it into the real world. Handset makers, mobile operators, and online players are jumping on the bandwagon and are willing to tap into consumers' social address book. While they have different assets to leverage in this emerging market, consumer product professionals in these companies should follow a platform play for third parties and developers to foster innovation. They need to balance business opportunities with the need to respect consumers' privacy concerns by providing them with the tools to manage their digital identities.