In addition to placing phone calls, sending text messages and taking pictures, cell phones can now keep users connected to their entire social network.
Last year, Intercasting Corp. launched Rabble, the first mobile blogging and social network, allowing users to create and share media using their mobile phones.
For a small fee, Rabble allows users to take and post pictures and then share them with friends through the phone and the Internet at the same time, according to Derrick Oien, president of Intercasting Corp.
"One of the key things is that it allows you to share the moment with people immediately," he said.
He added the feature distinguishes Rabble from similar online social directories such as Facebook and MySpace.
A user subscribing to Rabble has a "channel" where everything from pictures to events can be posted and viewed by other subscribers.
Intercasting Corp. expects users who currently use text messaging and play games on their phones will find Rabble appealing, according to Oien.
Students also note the current boom in the popularity of mobile Internet gadgets.
"The trend seems to be to pack as many devices and services as possible into a portable and convenient device," University of Wisconsin junior Emma Lange-Novak said.
Today, founders of Intercasting Corp. believe the number of functions a medium can perform equates with its value.
However, some students at UW are somewhat skeptical of the service.
"If you need that instant gratification and connection, maybe Rabble's for you," Novak said. "But I don't see the necessity for this application on a cell phone, since many [cell phones] and BlackBerries already have Internet service."
Another student felt the subscription cost would deter people from using Rabble when similar services, like Facebook and MySpace, are free.
Other students are cynical about the idea of social networks in general, but also recognize their growing popularity on college campuses.
"The majority of people in this community, at least among the people that I have associated with in my life, prefer to speak to others through channels such as Facebook, and do not mind wasting time looking at people's profiles, finding the 'perfect' picture of themselves and dabbling on others' walls," UW sophomore Matt Bader said. "Just as reality TV has taken over the American way of life, Facebook has begun to dominate teenage culture."
Users of Cingular and Verizon providers — totaling more than 100 million — can now use Rabble for a small fee.
Before 2007, Intercasting Corp. hopes the network will be a global community with users posting and sharing audio messages and video.
"We believe that media in the world is undergoing an amazing transformation," Oien said. "People are less and less interested in media being produced at the center of the media network in Los Angeles and New York and instead are focused on discovering media at the edge of the network — media that is created by the ordinary Rabble of the world."
