Mobile social networking

That would be social networking by cellphone. The trend is gathering steam, with Helio for MySpace users, Google’s Dodgeball, Silicon Valley start-up Loopt, and Microsoft’s SLAM (see ComputerWeekly. These services take advantage of the GPS (global positioning system) technology now in most new phones. So, in timely fashion, the New York Times looks at the related dilemma of parents: when to get them their first cellphones. The Times goes into that other, parental, reason for using GPS-enabled phones. “Most of the major wireless companies have introduced a Global Positioning System technology that allows someone (parents presumably) to track children using cellphones. There is, for example, the Chaperone Service through Verizon Wireless, Family Locator from Sprint and Wherifone by Wherify Wireless” – which of course only works when the phone is on the child’s person (key consideration for kid-phone decisionmaking: how old are they when they’re better about not losing their phones!). The Times writer thinks it’s all a bit “creepy” – what do you think? (Email me your comments via anne@netfamilynews.org.) Here, too, is some school cellphone policy perspective from the Albany Democrat-Herald.