These days we have some great tools available to us to both network online from home and on the go. Foursquare and Facebook places allow us to check into locations so our connections know where we are and what we are up to while Facebook and Twitter give us the capability of sharing important thoughts, ideas, events, and stories with our fellow networkers. Wouldnt it be cool if we could easily network with new connections when you are out and about? Sonar, a new iPhone app has made this a realizable solution.
Sonar launched in May of 2011 and since its launch has proved an effective and enormously useful tool to networkers. It works by pulling your own contact information as well as your friends contact information from the social networks you are a member of (such as Foursquare, Facebook, and Twitter) and lets you know about potential connections in your area. For instance if you are at a party, meeting, bar, or restaurant, your networking scope just got a whole lot larger.
The Sonar app works for you whether or not other users are utilizing it. However, one drawback is that in order for you to accurately see who is in any given area, people have to check in using Facebook Places or Foursquare. Unfortunately, this can mean the tool is kind of limited right now being as only about 17% of mobile users currently use check in services. Sonar is working on improving this however by adding implicit check ins, such as when people accept an invite from Eventbrite. The creators of Sonar also hope to one day extend the check in capability to include geotagged tweets, Instagram photos and foodspotting images.
Sonar has not forgotten about the business end of networking either. They plan on eventually allowing a company that be hosting a conference to pay to have its executives and employees moved to the top of users "most relevant" lists to promote more incoming networking invites from relevant contacts. This is similar to the dating sites use of promoted visibility and of Twitters promoted tweet options. However, Sonar will only allow the company to promote people, not the company or brand.
Currently Sonar is only available free for iPhones, however soon enough it will be released and available to Android users as well. A Foursquare account is required to make use of Sonar and with the planned deployment to Android users, soon everyone will be able to enjoy this unique and useful tool!
As the developer stated, "Sonar lets you take your online identity offline and meet real people in real time." Imagine being able to make more relevant connections and develop more friendships and meaningful relationships than ever before! I bet you never knew that the guy sitting across from you is your bosss brother. Sonar has truly taken social networking to the next level.
Jeremy Miller is the owner of Bugon Website Services and is a firm believer in not only offering superior search engine optimization and internet marketing services, but also providing website owners with valuable relevant information to help them efficiently and effectively market their website on the worldwide web! Mobile applications are becoming more relevant and reaching out to a larger target market every day and with this trend, it is important to see and how what is working to bring about these changes.
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