- Real-Time Rules
- Mobile Technology Is an Important Factor in Social Media
- The Power of the Platforms
- Impact of Blogs
- Social Media and Changing News Landscape
Mobile Technology Is an Important Factor in Social Media
Mobile technology plays a huge role in social media platforms. Globally there are 4 billion mobile phones in use. And 27% of those devices are smart phones.6 People spend an average of 17 minutes a day online on their mobile phones.7
People don’t need to be tethered to desktops if they want Internet connections. Today, smart phones keep us both productive and connected. In fact, globally, the mobile share of web traffic increased 162% between 2010 and 2012.8 Developing countries, while lacking the traditional broadband infrastructure, are making great strides in mobile infrastructure.
But remember that you don’t need a smart phone to post status updates or upload videos; you just need an SMS plan with capabilities to send MMS. (An SMS is a short message service or texting and MMS is multimedia message service which is an expansion of SMS allowing photos and videos to send.) During the Arab Spring, protesters were uploading videos not just from their smart phones but from mobile phones with cameras. Mobile technology allows for sharing real-time events. People can post from anywhere there is a mobile signal. Organizations need to be aware that they are always “on camera” and visible today.