How to Build an SMS Service
ISBN: 789742233
EAN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2007
Pages: 52
Pages: 52
Types of SMS Service > Messaging/Social Networking
Messaging or social networking services like Dodgeball, Twitter, 3Jam, UPOC, and Microsoft's Slam, act as an intermediary between users, receiving a message from one user, then sending on some form of the message to other users based on some logic.
Dodgeball, for example, enables location-aware social networking. The Dodgeball system has a database of known locations. Users establish a network of friends, then "check-in" by sending an SMS to the service with their location. For example, let's say I wanted to let people know I was at the club "Hive Mind" on 4th Avenue in Seattle. I could send:
@Hive Mind
And all my friends would receive:
dodgeball.com says: Jordan S. @ Hive Mind (4065 4th Ave NE at 42nd St) at 10:28 PM. Reply w/"@venue name" to check in!"
Twitter offers a similar system, but more focused on social blogging and less on location-specific check-ins. Twitter allows users to be "friends" or "followers" of one another. Messages sent to Twitter are redistributed to all the friends and followers of the sender. Person to person messages can also be sent directly through the Twitter system, using the d <username> <message> syntax.
3Jam, UPOC and Slam all offer group-centric text messaging. Users establish shared groups (rather than social networks) and message with them. Any message sent to a group is redistributed to everyone in that group via SMS, and replies are sent to the same set of people who received the original message. This allows for conversations and threads in a way that social network-based services do not.
Messaging and social networking SMS services generally require a relatively complex syntax for interaction, so they are often supplemented with a web site for some of the "heavy lifting" user interface (e.g., group management or preferences).