"Picking Vegetables" on Mobile Phones

The decline in traditional forms of social communication, the anxiety and confusion brought by the Internet age, the cherished memory of the past, the concern over the future, the feeling of void and the desire to fill it, together with our remaining shreds of childlike innocence make us long for more forms of socialization. These are all the underlying reasons of the prevalence of “picking vegetables”.

Social networking sites have seen exponential growth. However, it met criticism when it first appeared. Some say that they lead to indifference and impede face-to-face communication. Some say that they reduce people’s interpersonal skills in real life. However, it is undoubted that social networking sites have become an important online communication tool, second only to IM. We log onto social networking sites even if we don’t have important things to do. We may be disturbed by others at anytime but we also wish to be disturbed. Desiring attention has become a habit and a hobby.

Man is by nature a social animal and people desire to get connected. Earlier men used primitive language to communicate and defend themselves from external threats. The appearance of written language in the civilized society enabled us to keep in touch with friends in remote areas through letters. The invention of telegram and telephone during the industrial revolution increased the speed and scope of our communication. The emergence of computers and mobile phones, however, turns the world into a “global village”.

Computers enable global communication to extend beyond geological boundaries but sitting before the computers also restricts communication. Do you want to be an isolated otaku and squander lots of time on the Internet? The ubiquitous mobile phone is naturally an extension of the computer. As 3G networks are launched, a growing number of users surf the Internet via mobile phones and it is common for mobile phone users to access MSN Messenger while on the go. Now, people can use their mobile phones to keep track of their “farms”, or log onto Facebook or Twitter to see their friend’s status, check out news and post comments.

With mobile phones, SNS users can acquire and disseminate information more quickly and conveniently; with SNS, mobile phone increases its importance in our daily life. Some people joked that Barack Obama’s success in the U.S. presidential election mostly depends on BlackBerry. He used his BlackBerry to log onto Twitter, release his election manifesto and policies, read the voters’ messages, know their psychology and win their support. The victory of Obama can be seen as the victory of high tech or that of the social networking sites. Now, “mobile social networking” or “social networking handset” is a popular concept. As social networking site are brought to mobile phones, people’s inner desire is satisfied again.

The cooperation between Nokia and renren.com or that between Sony Ericsson and kaixin001.com could only be considered as a hype of social networking phones whereas Motorola Cliq truly defines a device for the socially inclined. It has Motorola’s customized interface called Blur, which is intended to aggregate various social services (including Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc.) and provides common interfaces to all of them. Its emergence marks that social networking handset is ready to change our social life.

TIPS
Social Networking Sites
The six degrees of separation concept, which was devised by American psychologist Stanley Milgram, lies at the core of social networking sites. It is the theory that anyone can be connected to any other person through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries. The term SNS refers to Social Networking Service. 

TIPS
Social Networking Handsets
Mobile SNS is the application of SNS at a deeper level, which aims to attract more mobile terminal users to the social networking sites. It utilizes the 3rd generation networks and is founded on real-world connections.

SNS Moving to Mobile Phones
Nov.15, 12: 00 a.m. Liberation Monument
“The traffic jam is really getting on my nerve,” M who sits in the traffic jam starts to complain. “Wow, what a handsome traffic policeman! Is he the legendary ‘most handsome traffic policeman’?”She takes out her phone and takes a photo of the policeman conducting the traffic. “I’ll upload the photo onto renren.com and share it with my friends.”

Ten minutes later, M got messages from her friends.
A: How handsome and sunny he is! [12: 05]
M: Reply to A: Of course! [12: 06]
B: You can do funny things even in a traffic jam. That’s really something. [12: 06]
M: Reply to B : ) [12: 07]
C: Where? I want to have a look too! [12: 08]
M: Reply to C: At the Liberation Monument. Hurry up! Or the traffic jam will disappear soon. [12: 10].

With the social networking phones, you might snap photos or take videos and put them online. Sharing is an important link in interpersonal interactions. Sharing is not only an expression of your own feelings and emotions but also a sign of friendship, as what you share could also be knowledge or tools. With the popularity of Internet, more and more people will store their data online, which facilitates sharing. To share a file, the users no longer have to send e-mail or upload the file; all they need to do is to create a link to the file.

Dec.11, 8: 15 a.m. CBD
“It is the end of the year again but there are still so many things to do. I wonder if the company managers have enough time to handle them.” J is the secretary of a company and she is worrying about how to arrange the agenda for the managers who are all on business trips now. “Oh, yes. I can check their schedules at SNS site.” Then J logs onto a SNS site through her computer, finds the managers’ free time, arranges their schedules and informs them to visit SNS sites via their handsets to look for details. “Even if these big pots change their schedules at any time, I can still make adjustments via my mobile phone. I no longer have any fears now.”

Personal information management (PIM) seem to be an extremely private behavior, so why is it necessary to disclose your information? In fact, personal information is a very broad concept, which may include management and sharing of address book, agenda, memos, etc. Sometimes, it is necessary to unlock part of our personal information, for example, the HR manager wants to arrange an interview for you. She can check your calendar and find your available time without having to make a call to disturb you. Do you want to synchronize your e-mail messages and calendar events? These can all be done by SNS, and with mobile phones, you can check and update your calendar at any time.

Dec. 20, 17: 00p.m. At the office
“My girlfriend asks me to go shopping after work. I guess she wants to know if I have prepared a gift for her since Christmas is coming. Oh, what is the perfect gift that would please her but not hurt my wallet?” L sits in the office perplexed. “Oh, yes! Why not log onto Taojianghu (SNS of China’s largest e-commerce site Taobao. com) to check out her browsing history and know what’s on her mind.” Thus, L can walk into the streets with his girlfriend calmly since he has already purchased her favorite gift through mobile payment and also sent her a virtual gift via Taojianghu.

Today, trading platforms like Taobao have their own SNS platforms such as “Taojianghu”, and they offer more intimacy and interaction than the impersonal Instant Messenger (IM) communication featured by the conventional online stores. People live in groups and are eager to share their good stuffs and experience. “Taojianghu” makes it easier for you to know your friends’ preferences and send gifts to them. Furthermore, as mobile phone wallet shows growing popularity, online purchasing is becoming easier.

Dec.25, 20: 00p.m, River North Walking Street
“I wonder where the guys will go to celebrate Christmas tonight. Let me see where they are. Making calls costs money while sending short messages is too slow. I’ll visit SNS first.” So Q accesses his SNS page via his phone, scans through his friends’ status messages and finds the location of those who are available. Then he changes his status message to “So, you are all in River North! Hey, buddies, let’s meet at 10.00p.m. at the Express Way Bar.” The buddies get together soon.

Though location-based service has been around since 2000, it is mainly used for confirming the physical location of mobile users and the information can not be shared. An application called Robo.to, for the Apple iPhone and handsets that run Google’s Android operating system, will offer information about callers, including personal videos, latest Twitter tweets, name and title from the Linked-In professional network, recent images on the Flickr photo service and a map of their location. It is an example of the “social address book” — the reinvention of a core handset feature.

Now the trend spotters no longer have to worry about it. Many international brands have built applications for iPhone, trying to cater to the needs of their loyal fans by providing them information such as new product release, opening of flagship shops, seasonal discounts. Not only so, these applications enable a brand new method of communication. Users with shared interest can form a circle to share fashion information anywhere anytime, or make a date to go shopping. The fashion followers will also have a chance to know the thoughts of their favorite designers at the first opportunity. Now, all these powerful functions will be controlled at your fingertips.

FOOD
A survey shows that 10% of the people worldwide have chosen to give up the traditional social rituals such as kissing, hugging and shaking hands when they meet their friends due to the outbreak of H1N1. We may stop hugging but should never forget the emotions expressed through hugging.

At some social networking sites, people can now pass on their feelings and emotions by way of virtual hugging. In renren.com, you can find various forms of hug groups like one initiated by Lipton. If your friends carry a Lipton logo, they can pass on the logo if they hug with others. More and more people enjoy participating in such kind of activity because it satisfies people’s desire to stay close to each other and communicate. Since SNS is based on the theory of Six Degrees of Separation, you can hug strangers as well as your relatives and friends at SNS sites.

The SNS sites also allow people to send virtual gifts to each other. Users on renren.com can send small virtual gifts such as Lipton Milk Tea and mobile phones to each other. 

SHELTER
As business cooperation between different regions gets more frequent, going on a business trip has become a daily routine for business people. The businessman goes to strange cities with business contracts as well as a sense of loneliness. After the deal is done, the contract is inked and the celebration dinner ends, he goes back to the hotel room and begins to feel lonely.

Can we only stay in our humble abodes? Of course not! Some hotels have created their own social networks, in which the “seeking people” section enables you to look for other folks whose stays overlap with yours or link up with friends with shared interest. For example, if you go to Beijing for business for the first time and you want to go around it because your business is done ahead of the schedule, you can easily find your hometown folks through “seeking people”, and you can ask them out when they are available. Information like hotel discounts and bonus point redemption on room service can also be shared among the members. Living in such a circle, you will no longer be bored or miss the latest discount info.

TRAVEL
To be a flying man is an occupational requirement. People, while waiting for flight, usually nap on the chair or look at the people coming and going or sit alone in the café. These are definitely not what you wish for.  

Have you heard of “making friends on the airplane”? This is a service called “Fly Together”, which is essentially a social networking service. After you make a reservation, you can enter the circle by inputting your personal data. Then you can check the personal information of others and leave messages to them through the interactive mechanism of the community. You may invite him to have a cup of coffee or ask her to help you select a gift for your girlfriend. Thus, you will no longer feel lonely in the airport lounge.