I'm spending a couple of days in the UK this week.  During my trip a few customers have talked about mobile devices and their role in social networking and in user generated content. I thought I'd share my thoughts on this.  (Ironically, my Telus cell phone does not work in the UK)

Today people think of the mobile handset as simply a limited, small screen device with a crappy keyboard.  I think in its current incarnation that this is true. The  iPhone and a few others improve on this,  but there is no way I'd key this blog entry on my iPhone. However, I think some interesting things are happening to change the mobile devices role 

Mobiles devices will carry with them context that can be applied to everything I consume , or create.  As my personal device, they know who I am, where I am.  If connected to my social network, they inherently know my friends, my friends of friends, my reputation, my presence, and a host of other things. 

Another change is that content is getting smaller.  People are starting to micro-blog. That is, small short statements instead of essays. I enjoy reading some specific blogs, but in many cases I just want the data.  "Where are my friends?", "Who has purchased the product I am looking at right now?".

A few months ago I met up with two colleagues for dinner in San Francisco when they noticed my FaceBook status said "landing in San Francisco". This kind of content is easy to create and consume via a mobile device.  Right now it's in a manageable form and it's easy to notice. As the amount of content explodes, this will have the same issues as email.  It will be hard to drink from the fire-hose.  It will be crucial to parse the content we submit.  So a simple statement like "Enjoying a beer at the Porcupine" should trigger a couple of things. 

A)    Add the location of the device to the content so my personal location will show that I am in London, at Leichester Square, and at the "Porcupine".  A smart system will resolve that this is a "Pub" near me and add any relevant info about the pub.

B)    The term "enjoy" could help list this as a "positive statement" about the pub.

My personal profile will contain all the information I want to share, and relevant content should be syndicated to various places.  My favorite restaurant review site could get a feed from me.  Information will flow.

My personal friends might get this information proactively depending on their settings.  Perhaps strangers will see it based on what I allow to be public to see and know about my personal profile.
 

Take the small example I just used and apply it to the dozens of things you do each day.  Not just the products, but all information.  "When is the next bus?" Mobile devices will be an extension of us.  They will be the conduit where personal information I want to share flows from and relevant information I need right now flows to. 

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