Mobile Is All About Community

By Wyatt Wood

It’s no surprise that mobile web use is increasing with records sales for iphone and the buzz surrounding the upcoming Motorola Droid smartphone. Taking this increase into consideration should be part of any current interactive/social strategy. With more than 60 million page views from mobile devices WordPress.com took notice and provided mobile template options for its bloggers.

This really shows how mobile devices are becoming the next entrance into the cloud. It’s pretty easy to see how the simplistic interface is geared for searching and quick delivery of information. The medium is perfect for engaging users on the move but I’m not satisfied that it’s good at retaining the average user long term.

Mobile location services such as Loopt are attempting to tackle this problem by providing behind the scenes (always on) monitoring and updates. I see this taking lifecasting to a new level of information sharing. Combined with SenseCam, which reportedly can hold 30,000 images on its internal memory, the possibility of having a device or service that can track and broadcast your movements has major implications.

Given my own usage of services like Foursquare, Latitude, Brightkite and other mobile/location aware services I think location broadcasting is a great idea. Especially coupled with a sense of competition to become recognized as a “regular” I think helps combat boredom with a service. But what’s next for the interactive mobile user? It’s not always about gaming or entertainment – given the trends I think it is clear that community is emerging point of mobile devices.

About Dave McNamara:

Dave McNamara’s fascination with technology began early on as a child, visiting his father at work as a programmer at NASA. Dave is part of the Interactive team working with developing the agency’s web/mobile initiatives and advising on new media strategies. He is graduating this May with an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University concentrating in Information Systems and Security. His perfect morning consists of sipping on a fresh-roasted cup of espresso and listening to old (and new) records.