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yorktown · Site Admin Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 302

Red Herring sent a reporter to the Mobile Social Networking Conference that took place 2 weeks ago.

Reprinted Courtesy of RED HERRING MAGAZINE

Facebook Taps iPhone Hype
15 August 2007
by Leah Messinger

Facebook was already riding high on IPO hype. Its latest mobile move puts the social network squarely into the “reality distortion field” created for Apple’s iPhone.

The social-networking startup on Tuesday launched a mobile version of its site that works on the iPhone, piggybacking on the marketing muscle, or reality distortion field, of CEO Steve Jobs.

“The iPhone hasn't even been out for two months yet, but it has already changed the way people think about the mobile web,” Facebook engineer Joe Hewitt wrote on the company’s blog.

The new mobile Facebook version for iPhone lets people access and update profiles, track friends, and find maps and driving directions for events scheduled on Facebook. People can also call friends directly from a friend’s profile.

In July more than 14 million unique visitors logged on to Facebook, according to conScore. Mr. Jobs said he expects to sell a million iPhones by the end of this quarter.

Facebook is the first of the top three social networks identified by Hitwise to release a mobile site specific to the iPhone. Helio and Cingular customers can access MySpace via mobile and the leading social network is also rumored to be partnering with T-Mobile.

San Francisco-based Bebo has partnered with Apple to sell iTunes music on its regular web site. Bebo recently announced a deal with France Telecom-owned Orange to provide U.K. customers with mobile access to the site.

During July’s Mobile Social Networking Conference in San Francisco, VideoEgg Vice President of Business Development and former Friendster exec Joe Hurd said social networks should do more to reach out to mobile providers because the teens and young adults who regularly log on to social networks are also avid mobile users.

But Mr. Hurd said it’s difficult to envision an effective business model for social networks on mobile devices because the screens on the phones are so small, making ads an unattractive option, and users are not yet accustomed to the idea of paying for mobile application subscriptions.

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Marc Lesnick
Conference Organzier
Social Networking Conference
Mobile Dating Conference

Tvbl · Joined: 14 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

I don't see that the iPhone has changed the way people think about the internet as the article says... Can't imagine using facebook on the small screen of my mobile either...

greetz
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Dating Expert