The document discusses the potential for SMS to be used as a social networking platform. It notes that the $50 mobile phone will be the default computing device for billions in Asia and Africa, and that SMS will be the primary technology for web access. It explores several examples of SMS-based social networks and applications, highlighting platforms used for messaging, networking, news, volunteering, and activism. The document argues that an SMS-only social platform could allow widespread engagement at low cost.

1. SMS as a Social Networking
Platform
April 29, 2009
NewComm Forum
Gaurav Mishra
SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

2. Context
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

3. Context 1 of 3
Research on social media in the emerging
BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India &
China
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

4. Context 2 of 3
What can marketers, and entrepreneurs,
learn from digital activists?
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

5. Context 3 of 3
How to engage people who aren’t going to
spend much, or anything at all, at little or no
cost?
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

6. Three Big Ideas
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

7. Big Idea: 1 of 3
The $50 mobile phone will continue to be
the default computing device for billions of
users in Asia and Africa.
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

8. Big Idea: 2 of 3
SMS (not WAP, GPRS or 3G) will be the
primary technology for web access for these
users.
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

9. Big Idea: 3 of 3
The question is: can we create a social
networking platform entirely on SMS?
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

10. Mobile Social Networking:
Take One
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

11. Facebook Mobile
Source: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2915120374&b#/mobile/
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

12. MySpace Mobile
Source: http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=mobile
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

13. Linkedin Mobile
Source: http://linkedin.com/static?key=promo_mobile
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

14. QQ Mobile
Source: http://mobile.qq.com/ via Benjamin Joffe
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

15. Loopt
Source: http://loopt.com
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

16. Aka Aki
Source: http://aka-aki.com/
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

17. Brightkite
Source: http://brightkite.com
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

18. Google Latitude
Source: http://www.google.com/latitude/intro.html
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

19. MocoSpace
Source: http://mocospace.com/
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

20. Peperonity
Source: http://peperonity.com/
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

21. JuiceCaster
Source: http://juicecaster.com/
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

22. Mobile Social Networking: Take 1
Phone-
Text Mobile specific
messaging website apps
Upload Geo-
photo/ location
video via services
email
© Gaurav Mishra (www.gauravonomics.com)
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

23. Mobile Social Networking: Take 2
    
Phone-
Text Mobile specific
messaging website apps
Upload Geo-
photo/ location
video via services
email
 
© Gaurav Mishra (www.gauravonomics.com)
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

24. Internet in Asia & Africa
The $50 mobile phone as the default device
for internet access in Asia and Africa
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

25. World Map of Computer Penetration
Source: United Nations Global Development Goals Indication
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

26. World Map of Internet Penetration
Source: Emiel van Wegen based on World Internet Stats data
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

27. Cost of Broadband Access
Source: Wired Magazine based on ITU data
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

28. India: QuestionBox
Source: http://questionbox.org
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

29. India: United Villages
www.vnl.in
Source: http://unitedvillages.com
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

30. India: Google Internet Bus
Source: http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/landing/internetbus/
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

31. Why Mobile?
Source: ITU-UNCTAD World Information Society Report 2007
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

32. Why Mobile?
mobile use
Source: ITU-UNCTAD World Information Society Report 2007
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

33. India: Why Mobile?
ICT Penetration in India (August 2008)
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
27.02%
10.00%
5.00%
5.31%
0.00%
0.04%
Broadband
Internet
Mobile
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

34. India: MicroTelecom
Source: http://vnl.in
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

35. India: Why SMS?
Source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/vm2827/3150157746/
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

36. Mobile Social Networking:
Take Two
Can we create a social networking platform
entirely on SMS?
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

37. The 4Cs of Social Media
Visible
Creators > Curators > Consumers
The 1:9:90 rule
Content Collective Action > Co-creation >
Conversations
Collaboration Size + Strength + Social Object
Implicit or explicit
Community Privacy + reputation + recommendation
Collective Intelligence
Invisible
Easy Difficult
© Gaurav Mishra (www.gauravonomics.com)
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

38. SMS-Based Social Networking
Registering & Searchable
filling profile public timeline
Sending &
receiving Social graph
updates
Searching own Privacy &
or public information
timeline filters
Friending & Reputation
direct messaging system
Group forming & Recommendation
messaging engine
© Gaurav Mishra (www.gauravonomics.com)
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

39. Twitter
ON
OFF
STOP, QUIT
ON username
OFF username
FOLLOW username
LEAVE username
@username + message
D username + message
WHOIS username
GET username
NUDGE username
FAV username
STATS
INVITE phone number
Source: http://twitter.com/
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

40. Identi.ca/ Laconi.ca
Source: http://identi.ca/
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

41. FrontlineSMS
Source: http://www.frontlinesms.com/
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

42. India: SMS Gupshup
Source: http://www.smsgupshup.com
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

43. Social SMS
 Open-source SMS-based group messaging
system.
 join <GROUP>
 leave <GROUP>
 identify <NAME>
 list [my] groups
 list members of <GROUP>
 <GROUP> <MESSAGE>
Source: http://github.com/adammck/socialsms/tree/master
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

44. India: BabaJob/ BabaLife
Source: http://babajob.com/ and http://babalife.com/
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

45. Palestine: SoukTel Job Match
Source: http://www.souktel.org/JobMatch.htm
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

46. Palestine: SoukTel AidLink
Source: http://www.souktel.org/AidLink.htm
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

47. Africa: Mobile-XL XLBrowser
Source: http://www.mobile-xl.com via Read Write Web & White African
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

48. 411 SMS Browser
Source: http://www.411sms.com/mobilejava
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

49. India: Nokia Life Tools
Source: http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Microsites/Entry_Event/phones/Nokia_Life_Tools_datasheet.pdf
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

50. Nokia Ovi Mail
Source: http://mail.ovi.com
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

51. The Digital News Lifecycle
Context Analysis
News Story
Conversation
REACH/
Blog Post
DEPTH
Personalization
SMS Alert
TIME
© Gaurav Mishra (www.gauravonomics.com)
Hat Tip: The News Diamond by Paul Bradshaw (www.onlinejournalismblog.com)
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

52. South Africa: Mxit
Source: http://www.mxit.co.za
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

53. Kenya: Ushahidi
Source: http://ushahidi.com
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

54. India: Vote Report India
Source: http://votereport.in
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

55. Using Mobile Social Networks to Mobilize
Using Mobile Social Networking for
Mobilizing Social Change
Source: http://mobichange.org
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com

56. Thank You
Blog: gauravonomics.com/blog
Twitter: @gauravonomics
Email: gauravonomics@gmail.com
Gaurav Mishra | SNCR Fellow | GU Yahoo! Fellow | www.gauravonomics.com | gauravonomics@gmail.com