From virtual communities to social networks

                               

•The Web makes it possible for people to form online communities that are not limited by geography.

•Individuals and companies with common interests can meet online and discuss issues, share information, generate ideas, and develop valuable relationships.

•Combining the Internet’s transaction cost-reduction potential with its role as a facilitator of communication among people has led companies to develop new ways of making money on the Web by serving as relationship facilitators.

•Virtual Communities

•A virtual community, also called a Web community or an online community, is a gathering place for people and businesses that does not have a physical existence.

•Virtual communities began online even before the Internet was in general use.

•Bulletin board systems (BBSs) were computers that allowed users to connect through modems (using dial-up connections through telephone lines) to read and post messages in a common area, or electronic bulletin board.

•BBSs often hosted discussions on specific topics or issues related to specific geographic regions. Interested persons (primarily from the education and research communities) could discuss those topics.

•Many BBSs were free, but some charged a monthly membership fee. Other discussion board services followed, provided by commercial enterprises such as Compuserv, Prodigy, and Genie.

•Usenet newsgroups were another early form of virtual community.

•Usenet was a set of interconnected computers devoted to storing information on specific topics.

•Usenet news groups were message posting areas on those computers in which interested persons (primarily from the education and research communities) could discuss those topics.

•Web chat rooms and sites devoted to specific topics or the general exchange of information, photos, or videos can constitute virtual communities.

•These communities offer people a way to connect with each other and discuss common issues and interests.

•Social Networking Sites

  A social networking site is a web site that allows individuals to create and publish a profile, create a list of other users with whom they share a connection (or connections), control that list, and monitor similar lists made by other users.

  Examples: friendster, twitter, orkut, Linkedin, youtube, Myspace

•People are invited to join by existing members who think they would be valuable additions to the community.

•These sites provide a directory that lists members’ locations, interests, and qualities.

• A member can offer to communicate with any other member, but the communication does not occur until the intended recipient approves the contact .

•Web Logs (Blogs: political campaign, retail business, or newspaper)

•Web logs or blogs are web sites that contain commentary on current events or specific issues written by individuals.

•Allow people to discuss issues, plan strategies, and even arrange in-person meetings called meet ups.

•Blog sites encourage interaction among people interested in a particular topic, they are a form of a social networking site (US election debate).

•Retailers embraced blogs as a way to engage web site visitors who were not ready to buy from the site but who were interested in the products or services offered.

  The Flypaper blog invites visitors to discuss anything related to fashion.

  Ice.com operates several blogs, including one focused on celebrity jewellry. The company believes that the blogs encourage potential customers to visit their online store.

  Small town newspapers now depend on readers to contribute information about community issues and events.

  Larger newspapers would rather run a blog or web site with reader contributions than pay reporters to write stories about events or issues that would interest only a small segment of their readership.

  Blogs can become a business in themselves if they can generate financial support through fees or advertising.

  Some industry observers consider Twitter to be a micro-blog because it functions as a very informal blog site with entries that are limited to 140 characters in length.

  Social Networking Web Sites for Shoppers

•The practice of bringing buyers and sellers together in a social network to facilitate retail sales is called social shopping.

•Social networking sites form communities based on connections among people.

•Web sites create communities based on the connections between ideas.

•These more abstract communities are called idea-based virtual communities and the people who participate in them are said to be engaging in idea-based networking.

Virtual Learning Networks

•One form of social network is the virtual learning network.

•Many colleges and universities now offer courses that use distance learning platforms such as blackboard for student instructor interaction.

•Distance learning platforms include tools such as bulletin boards and chat rooms that allow students to interact with their instructors and each other in ways that are similar to the interactions that might occur in a physical classroom setting.

Web Portals

•Sites such as Yahoo, AOL, and MSN combine typical

  portal offerings such as search engines, directories, free e-mail, news stories, and weather reports with social networking elements such as games and chat rooms that allow site visitors to interact with each other.

•The combination of portal and social networking features keep visitors on the web site.

Mobile Commerce

•Mobile commerce includes any business activity conducted over a wireless telecommunications network.

•It includes B2C and B2B commercial transactions as well as the transfer of information and services via wireless mobile devices, especially in intra business.

•M-commerce can be done via the internet, via private communication lines.

In 2008, mobile communication introduced:

•High-speed mobile telephone networks

•Smart phones that include a Web browser, an operating system, and the ability to run applications on that operating system.

•Mobile Operating Systems and Applications

•NTT DoCoMo has been a leader in expanding mobile commerce, including online shopping, sale of games and payments.

•Mobile wallets that function as credit cards.

•Wireless Application Protocol technology is being used to develop web pages for smart phones and wireless PDA’s.

•Another approach, made possible by increased screen resolution, is to display a normal Web page on the device.

•Apple iPhone was one of the first devices to include touch screen controls that make viewing and navigating a normal Web page easy to do on a small handheld device.

•A third approach is to design web sites to match specific smart phones. This is much more difficult to accomplish, because there can be many different phones that use the same operating system, and each phone has a different interface (the buttons, touches, or gestures that perform specific functions often vary).

•Phone manufacturers often use a standard operating system provided by a third party when building their smart phones.

•The most common third party operating systems are Android, Windows Mobile, and Symbian.

•Android is an open source operating system created by Google.

•Windows Mobile is a proprietary operating system sold by Microsoft.

•Symbian, which is the most widely used smart phone operating system, started as a proprietary system but became open source in 2008 when Nokia purchased the software from its developer.

Attributes of Mobile Commerce

  Online shopping, internet banking, e-stock trading and online gaming is getting popularity in wireless B2C.

Ubiquity:

•Available at any location at any time.

•Smartphone or tablet PC can deliver information when it is needed  regardless of the user’s location.

Convenience:

•Instant connectivity i.e. no need to wait for the device to boot up.

•Preferred way to access many ways of information like internet, intranet. 

Interactivity:

  In comparison with the desktop computing environment, transactions and communication are immediate and highly interactive in mobile communicating environment.

Personalization:

  Mobile devices are almost always owned and operated by a single individual.

  This enables consumer personalization:

   The delivery of information, products and services designed to meet the needs of individual consumers.

  e.g. A user planning a trip can be sent travel related information for retrieval when and where they want.

Localization (location based m-commerce):

•Knowing where a user is physically located at any particular moment is key to offering relevant services.

•Targeting everyone in a certain location so that users get messages that depend on what their preferences are.

  If a person likes Italian food and that person is strolling in a mall that has an Italian restaurant, the device owner could get a text message that displays the menu offerings and offers a 10% discount.

•Vendors can differentiate themselves in the competitive marketplace by offering new, exciting and useful services based on these attributes.

•These value adding attributes can be the basis for businesses to better deliver the value services they offer to consumers.

•The services these attributes represent will help e-commerce attract and keep customers and grow their revenues.

•Mobile Financial Applications

  Mobile financial applications have the potential to turn a mobile device into a business tool, replacing banks, ATMs, and credit cards by letting a user conduct financial transactions with a mobile device, anytime anywhere.

•Banks are offering mobile access to financial and account information.

•Customers of banks can use their mobile handsets to access account balances, pay bills and transfer funds using SMS.

•Financial alert services are of special interest to banking customers e.g. A loan payment is due, a schedule rental payment has not been made, a bank bal. has fallen below a specified amount.

Wireless Electronic Payment Systems:

  Wireless payment systems transform mobile phones into secure, self contained purchasing tools capable of instantly authorizing payments over the cellular network.

•Order food via your cell phones in a sports stadium.

•Pay for your taxi rides.

•Buy movie tickets etc.

•Micropayment technology:- grocery stores, parking garages & public transportation.

Wireless Wallets:

   M-wallet technologies  that enabled cardholders to make purchases with a single click from their mobile  devices.

  Nokia wallet provides users with a secure  storage space in their phones for credit card information to be used in mobile payments.

Wireless Bill Payments:

  A number of companies are now providing their customers with the option of paying their bills directly from cell phones.

  paying utility bills via sms.

  In scandinavia ATMs and vending machines can communicate with mobile phones, giving consumers the opportunity to access virtual cash, buy goods or services or pay bills.

 

 

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