TechCrunch: Mobile Social Networks Lack Presence Detection

TechCrunch blogger Michael Arrington posted a solid analysis of the mobile social networking market. He said that all of the big players, while having unique features here and there, lack an essential component: physical presence detection.

“This is the Holy Grail of mobile social networking, and one of the main reasons for taking the networks off the desktop/laptop environment in the first place,” Arrington said. “Imagine walking into a meeting, classroom, party, bar, subway station, airplane, etc. and seeing profile information about other people in the area, depending on privacy settings. The information that is available would be relevant to the setting – quick LinkedIn-type information for a business meeting v. Facebook dating status for a bar.”

The main problem, he said, is that until lots of users join a particular network and use this exact feature (assuming it were available), there’s no reason to use it at all. In other words, it’s the classic chicken-and-egg problem.

Check out his article for a rundown of some promising new companies working with presence detection in varying degrees–including one service that sends a quick vibration to your phone whenever you’re physically nearby someone else on the network.

The Holy Grail For Mobile Social Networks [TechCrunch]

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.