The mobile device constitutes a key component of our multi-channel environment. Acting as a bridge between the physical and virtual world as well as personal space; mobile devices offer endless possibilities both for the individual users and the business actors.
After the explosive growth of social networking via the Internet (i.e., Facebook, MySpace, Orkut), it became obvious that the next phase of this revolution would be mobile social networking. Αs such, what we would consider science fiction a few years ago, is today’s reality - mobile social networks thrive at a social level, while they gain ground in the corporate world. These virtual mobile communities present a market growth opportunity for companies and public institutions that seek to exploit the social interaction and engagement with the user/client/partner/collaborator.
However, do mobile users favor only social networking?
In the past few years we have experienced another social phenomenon, which involves social games (i.e., games of imagination, skill and chance, among others) that are accessible via the Internet from a PC and/or a mobile phone. Games have and continue to be one of the largest and fastest growing categories of mobile content and according to surveys users spend considerable amount of their free time, playing games on their phone.
But is there is a linkage between social networking and mobile gaming?
The "m-Gaming: New User Experience and Market Growth Opportunity" presentation, of Dr. G. Yovanof and myself (presented at the “Industry Days 2010” of the European Lotteries, June 2-4 2010, Barcelona, Spain), provides answers to these issues, while it examines the impact of social networks and games. It describes how the mobile devices have realized the convergence of personal space, with physical and virtual worlds and points out circumstances under which a new generation of games will emerge: “games that could change the world”.
