Social Networking 2.0

Many social networking platforms are undergoing a tremendous upgrade. It is

now not limited to laptops or PCs, mobiles are increasingly playing an important

role in the quest for a virtual social connect. Location based social networking

seems to be the new fad. A network of social networks may soon find existence

which would reduce the burden of visiting multiple social networking sites to

stay connected. Most brands are looking up to new tools to monitor online

discussions regarding their products and take actions to move in the right

direction for their benefit. This article talks about some of these trends that

would affect how virtual social networking works.

Mobile based social networking



The latest technology addition to the vast expanse of social networking

platforms is the use of mobiles. And we can bet that their participation in the

widespread increase of social networking is bound to grow from strength to

strength. Mobiles present an easy mode of connect for real time social

networking. People do not need to wait to be connected to a PC or a laptop to be

able to connect with their friends and family. Mobiles offer easy connectivity

regarding social networking updates and more on the go. Increasing number of

smart phones and the use of widgets has enabled the average user to be connected

to their network. Mobiles are tipped to take over as the predominant social

networking platform from PCs and laptops as more and more applications enable

more power to the mobile user. Also, mobiles are an easier mode of staying

connected to your business or social network for a longer period of time.

Location based social networking



Existing social networking platforms are predominantly stationary. Location

based social networking enables users registered onto a network to identify

themselves whenever they reach within a certain predefined proximity. Users

would be able to see virtual profiles of these people just as they do of people

on any other social networking site. People with common interests could then

meet up and collaborate for work and pleasure. Though location based social

networking is predominantly mobile based, there are enough new technological

advancements happening to make this platform accessible on the go on platforms

not merely restricted to mobile space. It has been predicted that location based

social networking sites could register revenues exceeding $3 billion by 2013.

The next wave of social networking will comprise location-based social networking. On the left you can see a photo being uploaded from a smart phone to photowall.com, while on the right you can see the uploaded photo with geo tags on the site.

Although the current situation begs to differ, the proposed revenues may

still be met and there is evidence to suggest that. There is a high chance that

some of the established networks could add the location based social networking

model to their existing ones which will only enhance their capabilities and

reach. Some of the existing location based social networking platforms include

Brightkite, GyPSii, Pelago and Loopt.  Twitter would be launching geo-tweets

very soon; this will allow users to embed their location with their tweets.

Similarly a company called PhotoWALL displays real-time media streams (or WALLs)

by presenting live media precisely when it happens. It allows mobile users to

send live photos along with various geo-tags and Voice tags to an attractive

search website for public, network or private viewing. Location based social

networking also opens a whole new range of possibilities such as location based

advertising, finding like-minded people who are near you, recommending places to

friends, finding reviews what people around you have to say about a particular

place or product, etc.

Intertwined networks



Interoperability is going to be the next major thing to look out for in the

coming days. With increasing number of social networking platforms, it has

become a norm for a person to be on multiple networking sites. As the social web

develops, more sites will begin to integrate their services with one another.

Already, widgets are available that can update Facebook and Twitter at the same

time. With so many social media sites, people not just have identities but hubs

spanning dozens of sites. This may help the retailers and other businesses to

have a relationship with a consumer's overall identity across several sites,

rather than a direct channel of information to one particular profile. The

Outlook Social Connector (OSC) is an application to look out for.

It is being designed to bring social views of your colleagues and friends

right to the Inbox. The OSC  facilitates reading your e-mail messages along with

a glance down at the new People Pane to see the picture, name, and title of the

sender. A rich, aggregated collection of information about the sender is

included. The OSC presents information related to communication history,

meetings, attachments, activity feed amongst others.

Brand monitoring



With the increasing number of companies and brands finding space on the

networks, another problem that seems to be cropping up is the brand image and

its discussion. As more and more brands are being easily accessed through

various ways online, these brands are keen on finding out the response that is

being generated for them. With the advent of social networking, it is very

important for the brands to keep their image under track and ensure that they

are aware of what people discuss about them. Listening to the buzz around your

brand is not only important from a reputation management standpoint, but also

because it serves as a way to better understand ways of improving your brand.

Brand monitoring helps brands to gauge the exact customer response. This helps

companies to decide upon and change their marketing strategies to create the

right buzz for themselves. Social networking platforms are now increasingly

becoming platforms for these brands to use and benefit from the brand monitoring

tools.

Many free as well as paid Brand monitoring tools are available nowadays which

can help you with this task. 'Google alerts' is a free service that helps you

receive email or RSS updates related to the keywords that we may set. Another

great app is the 'Tweetbeep' which lets you receive email when someone mentions

a certain keyword on Twitter. Similarly, the app named 'Omgili' allows you to

monitor any mentions about the brand or company on forums across the network.

'How sociable?' is a great little website that allows you to track mentions of

your company or brand across a range of different social networks and feeds. 'Backtype'

enables monitoring as well as generating the desired response in the form of

email or RSS feed. Monitoring the response for your brand and timely response

becomes a great way to generate online PR across platforms.

The social networking platform has now become an endless entity of

opportunities. More and more new ideas are being pumped into this platform.

There is no tap on the potential that this platform provides. It is up to the

people to use it to their advantage.