With the massive increase in the sales of digital camera phones, many Internet-savvy users have begun creating Web sites to log pictures online of practically everything imaginable.
It is called mobile web logging, or “moblog” for short, and a company called Text America wants to bring the trend to even the most casual computer user. The company, which can be found at www.textamerica.com, sees moblogging as an integral part in the future of personal web publishing and social networking.
Text America’s Founder and Chief Operating Officer Chris Hoar believes that Text America will develop into an information exchange and alternative news source that everyone can participate in.
“Every time there is a major event like the blackout in New York or the forest fires in California, we see a public moblog pop up with real, normal people actually uploading pictures to it,” Hoar said.
Text America’s goal seems, at the very least, feasible. According to a statement by wireless provider T-Mobile, 1 million digital camera phones have already been sold in the US and Europe.
Unfortunately, only a small percentage of camera phone owners have any idea what to do with their new gadgets.
“Most people just take a picture of something, show it to the person standing next to them and then delete it,” Hoar said. “Many times when people become aware that free services like Text America exist, they immediately begin uploading pictures.”
The Text America crew believes that one of the coolest aspects of participating in their community is the ability to get an unbiased glimpse into other cultures.
“One of the byproducts of using Text America is that you get a peek into the lives of people in other countries like China, India and Indonesia and so on,” Hoar said. “What you see is that these people are not nutty alien wackos. They like things just like us.”
Upon registering for the service, users are assigned a unique e-mail address to which they are instructed to send pictures to from their phones. The pictures are then displayed on the user’s personalized moblog, regardless of the individual’s physical location.
Text America also plays host to public group moblogs. Users with similar interests can upload related images to a public moblog for other members of the community to see and discuss.
Groups are often topical, covering issues that vary drastically from one to another. One group moblog, found at www.ufcw.textamerica.com, is dedicated solely to the United Food and Commercial Workers union strike.
The strike is still in progress in Southern California, West Virginia and Missouri and has been overlooked by many professional news sources.
But all of the groups are not dedicated to serious issues. For instance, the Notorious Numbers Moblog asks users to take pictures of random number sequences they encounter while wandering aimlessly.
Another lighthearted group encourages people to send in images of hats of all makes and models. The Many Hats of Text America can be found at www.hats.textamerica.com
Although Text America is an entirely free service, it should be noted that many wireless providers charge more monthly based on how many pictures are uploaded from a user’s phone.
For instance, Cingular customers can purchase a specific amount of bandwidth. Monthly users are charged extra if they exceed their allocated monthly quota.
Sprint, on the other hand, charges one flat fee and users can upload as fiendishly as they please.
To avoid unexpectedly higher rates, it is best to check bandwidth rates before embarking on a wild voyeuristic posting spree.