Social Media: Advancing Through Mobile Technology

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegarfield/4247757731/

Social media is pervasive online, but it’s also starting to get more and more popular in the mobile realm. As smartphones continue to increase their market penetration, it becomes easier for users to access their favorite social networks through their mobile devices. Social media goes hand in hand with the accessibility of mobile devices, and the biggest the influence that mobile has, the more it’s going to change the way the social media field is played.

The Influence of Live Posting

One of the primary reasons that social media works so well with mobile devices is the integration of live posting. Instead of waiting to get home to upload pictures of your outing to Facebook, you can add new pictures as the events occur. Live blogging and tweeting at events is another way to provide real time updates to your social networks. Once you get used to instantly posting while the thoughts are on your mind, it would be hard to go back to using social networks outside of the mobile realm.

Effects

Social media continues to grow with a focus toward the mobile platform. A few effects from this include users relying on chat more than texting on the phones, VOIP options for calls through Skype integration and similar services, and many other ways to utilize social networks for functions that used to be handled through other services.

A mobile friendly social media presence is one way to adapt to this integration, but a far more useful way is to work on mobile apps that have an easy way to tie in to social networking. Your application doesn’t have to be unique or the most useful application in the world if you provide an easy hook in to social networking. Maybe you want to let your users show their high scores on their Facebook walls, or perhaps you would prefer to allow people to post about your business through your app on to their social networks. A great way to work in social networking, even if it doesn’t particularly fit in with your app, is giving users a way to easily post Yelp reviews of your business straight from your application.

Long Term Goals

Smartphones are going to continue dominating the market, and social media is going to be a big part of it. Everyone is looking for the next viral sensation, to share funny pictures with their friends, and to shout far and wide exactly what they’re doing and when they’re doing it. When you make it easy for everyone to share their lives on social media, you’re providing a way to promote your business without being obtrusive about it.

Having a captive audience that wants to use your applications is definitely a great way to build your brand, as well as letting everyone know exactly what you’re all about. With application development being a big way of promoting yourself through mobile devices to begin with, adding on a social media twist is not too difficult. It may take some time to figure out what the best approach is, but it will always pay off in the end.