Software, Software Development and other Atrocities

This post is the third instalment of my social networking series where I discuss some of their success factors. For me there are three factors which are essential for these sites to survive. First, good social networking sites should be places where I can find friends and people I know, people I can talk to so I do not get bored. Second these sites should have attractive communication tools which help me to engage at a deeper level. Third, these sites and tools should work in my computer and/or mobile and for the situations I am when I use them. (I have talked about the first two factors in previous posts, this one is about the third one.) These factors are obviously biased by my preferences and by my personal experiences (I like ethnographic approaches!) I am also influenced by the little bit of theory I know about computer mediated communication (CMC) and online community dynamics, theories like online communities of practice and online pragmatics. (Read an essay on CMC I wrote a few years ago.)

As you can see above, my practical and theoretical biases are mainly on the human and social aspects of online dynamics. And I have to say I have a fairly narrow experience in the hardware/platform field - which is partly the focus of this post. I have used lots of computers in my life. However, for the last 8 years or so, I have been restricted to the Ms Windows platform, out necessity and chance, not choice. Well, not 100% restricted, I own a smartphone with Symbian OS v9.1-UIQ 3.0. which is veeery nice. I guess what I am trying to say is that my discussion below is (very) limited to the platforms I have mentioned. So keep an open mind.

Since my smartphone has a browser (Opera 8.65) I should be able to access most online sources I access from my PC, particularly wap enabled sites. However I never use my phone as a computer. It is a small computer of course but not "a computer." I use my computer for work and if not at work for more than 10 minute tasks. On the other hand I use my smartphone for short online tasks when I am on the move and when I find a free hotspot!

My computer social networking activities are based around writing emails, Facebook and Hi5 (and sometimes LinkedIn1,) reading and commenting friends' blogs, and uploading pictures. Some of these are a bit passive, reading things, clicking here and there. Some other actvities are more active, I create and upload content, which will be read and seen by someone else. I also use Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and Skype for chatting2. All at the same time. I do not use more because it then becomes a mess. My approach to IM is simple: keeping IM turned on (online/busy) all the time I am at the computer. I have long, informal conversations with whoever is online (one or more people). I intercalate these conversations with other tasks, so sometimes my contact and I can be silent for one or two hours and then we continue talking again when we are free. IM software come with some nice features such as video chatting, graphic emoticons and access to email accounts. I like to use these tools whenever I can.

My mobile phone social networking activities are very different from the above. The point I want to make is that it would not make sense for me to translate all this use from my PC to my mobile phone, mainly because the situations I am in and the reasons for using them are different. And also because my mobile has a small screen not suitable for some tasks I perform at the computer.

So what do I use my smartphone for?

Obviously I make calls and send texts. I download RSS feeds with the news and my emails (don't like push emails though.) I also use Twitter and chat. Facebook? hmmm, no. I don't like accessing Facebook (m.facebook.com) through the browser, it is just not usable for such a small display. And I do not like interacting with Facebook via text messaging either. That is too restrictive for all that Facebook can offer. Facebook client? Not yet, haven't found any for Symbian.

You may have noticed I did not mention twitter a couple of paragraphs above. That is because for some reason I find it boring browsing Twitter when I am at the computer. I find it too static or maybe too simple. Just one list of posts for such a big screen! I thought on installing a Twitter client in my laptop but decided to do that in my phone (for variety you know.) At the moment I am using Twibble which I find usable and attractive. So for example, if I am waiting in the dentist's and I am bored I use Twibble and download the lastest Tweets. I just need to scroll down to read them all. If I wanted to write something, say "I am at the dentist" that would be as simple as writing an sms. I bet a great percentage of twitterers are mobile users. I think their 144 character post model fits mobiles nicely. I however have to emphasize that I do not find Twitter as engaging as Facebook. So far my participations there are not as abundant as any average twitterer and they are random rather than with an objective. This is a content and language problem I would probably write about later. But what I can say now is that Twibble is a good way of killing time when you are bored.

I also use my smartphone for chatting. I installed Fring (Instant Messaging) in my phone. I did this just as an experiment (not a need) to see what sort of use could come from it. In Fring I have activated my MSN and Google accounts. Contacts from different sources have different colours, off line contacts are in grey. Conversations appear in new tabs and you are alerted by a sound when someone talks to you. So far I find Fring little to medium fun. It might be that I am useless at it. I just can keep track of one or two conversations at the same time, and as in a mobile phone I cannot type as fast as in a computer my exchanges are very slow. I think it is just a matter of getting used to it and not trying to mimic my computer (which I do unconsciously). If I can't do that I will probably dump it and get another application which I find more natural for a mobile :) Maybe a location-based social network app which I can use and definitely need when I am on the move.

Social Networking is not restricted to PCs. They are in other kinds of devices like mobile phones, PDAs and TVs, and they keep growing into other devices. Who knows, maybe in the future you'll read your tweets in your treadmill screen or you'll see your friends in the Facebook Holodeck. However moving applications from one platform to the other will not just work like that. One has to be careful to not take anything people throw into the market without thinking on its usability and reasons for using them.


----------------------------------------------------
1 LinkedIn is a networking site but it isn't social, therefore it's kind of boring.
2 I know, these are not social networking sites per se but Instant Messaging applications. I think they have similar purposes: both are social applications.