Innovation is our new column that highlights the latest emerging technological ideas and where they may lead
Can social networks change the world? Yes, they can, in the words of Barack Obama鈥檚 election campaign. That campaign itself provided evidence that the tools of 鈥淲eb 2.0鈥� 鈥� the community-driven web 鈥� can really make a difference, delegates at the conference in London heard this week.
Last September, tech guru , founder of O鈥橰eilly Media, challenged the Web 2.0 community to come up with something more productive than time-wasting Facebook applications 鈥� singling out 鈥淪uperpoke鈥�, which invites users to interact with their friends by throwing imaginary sheep at each other (among other things), for particular derision.
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At this week鈥檚 conference, UK-based social media consultant Chris Thorpe pointed out that just a month after O鈥橰eilly鈥檚 clarion call, the Obama election campaign launched the iPhone application. The application organised and prioritised contacts in key battleground states, 鈥渕aking it easy [for campaigners] to reach out and make an impact quickly鈥�.
The application also showed how the user鈥檚 call statistics compared with the national average. As said: 鈥淭hose statistics are the kind that can motivate people 鈥� they can feel like they鈥檙e part of something bigger.鈥�
Thorpe told the conference about a number of other networking sites that might satisfy O鈥橰eilly鈥檚 challenge. , for example, is a social networking site through which a community of Londoners is helping to identify the simplest routes across the city for those with mobility issues 鈥� be it pushing a baby buggy to carrying heavy bags.
鈥楰arma points鈥�
At the other end of the spectrum, a social network called will help people around the world to meet up in 20-strong groups to share thoughts on the leading economic issues of the day.
The site is supposed to provide a counterpoint to the in April, when finance ministers and central bank governors from the world鈥檚 leading economies will meet in London. We20 aims to draw solutions from the community discussion, rather than relying on politicians to lead the way 鈥� although it鈥檚 not clear what, if anything, it will achieve.
But , professor of transport and society at the University of the West of England in Bristol, UK, told the conference about a more established social network that is already beginning to deliver on its aims. is a carpool scheme powered by Google maps, a social network and, according to the Zimride site, a 鈥渞ide-matching algorithm鈥�. Since its inception in 2007, Zimride claims to have enabled some 300,000 users worldwide to carpool who might otherwise never have met.
Thorpe thinks social media applications like this one might be the way of the future. Facebook users might one day compete to see who can gain the most 鈥済lobal karma points鈥�, he says 鈥� working for the greater good, rather than for their own amusement.
Read previous Innovations: The battle for the paperless book, Robotic faces鈥� for humans, Personal dynamo, Gallery: Designs of the year, Artificial brain for sale, Software that finishes your sentences, The cellphone economy, Sick traveller detector
