Mobile Communities
First thoughts about a complex issue
Willi Schroll
Nov 1/2 2008 Berlin1

What is complicated in the world
of Mobile Communities?
Are they not just „your buddies and
social network on a mobile device“?
When the social space meets the mobile space
some things will interfere.
2

Community
Sociological definition
Group of interacting people
living in a common location.
Organised around common
values and social cohesion
within a shared geographical
location.
A bit to loco-centric for the
networked, mobile people of
21st century?
3

Mobile
Anthropology/Psychology
Human beings move around for
different purposes, with
different technologies, speeds,
distances. Buying milk,
meeting people, travelling.
Virtualization as an option:
„Felt distance“ can be reduced
by telecommunication tech too.
4

Semantics
Linking docs is ok (web 1.0).
Connecting things, people,
places, actions – guided and
filtered by meaning structures –
opens up new possibilities.
5

„moss“ web... sensors inclusive
The three forces make up the
mobile social semantic web.
With the invasion of the sensors
we actually have a fourth factor
with again new possibilities.
Source : fitbit.com we
6

Ubiquitous sociality – wishful?
User experience design issues
for the mobile-social device
pose basic questions.
Location-based and social
awareness services have to be
tuned carefully. Maybe stealth
service is a killer app in the
future transparency scenario.
What to do with ubi web?
Source: 3g4g.blogspot.com
7

Design dilemma?
„You cannot not communicate“
Paul Watzlawick
Applied to location aware
services with social tracking: If
you decide to switch off social-
local visibility then this is an act
of hiding. Maybe this act itself
should stay hidden, if possible.
Source: trendwatching.com
8

Complex unfolding
Some building blocks for emer-
ging moss apps and services
local local
communities mobile space knowledge
actual location future location route planning
local events local offers local advertising positioning tech
social lifestream actual environment actual phys. state sensor/recog. tech
social mapping geo tagging semantic tech Social LBS
recommendation gaming sharing bandwidth
reviewing/voting dating socializing soc. augm. reality
online adhoc/tmp
communities social space communities
9

Willi Schroll • xing.com, linkedin.com
twitter.com/willischroll
blog.futurefacts.net
moss web twine: Twine.com, id:bowman
www.z-punkt.de