Vodacom launches two social networking services in South Africa

Rating: when will I see you again?

The first of Vodacom’s new social networking services is, Meep, is a real-time, presence-based IM service – but you need a 3G phone to use it and 3G coverage in South Africa is limited. On the upside, no additional data charges are levied for usage, it is said to be very easy to use and Meep users can invite friends and family to join them free of charge. Meep will be free to all Vodacom’s contract, top up and prepaid customers until the end of January 2008.

We like the lack of extra data charges and the free-to-join, but will it interact with any other IM service – apparently not (“Meep users can also chat to non-Meep users, in which case messages are delivered via SMS”), which undermines the offer. Also, depends on how much the charges to join are when they are implemented in February.

The second service, TheGRID, is more democratic in that it works on any phone; people are able to find friends by seeing their position on a street map. Location is approximated by the network (is this sounding familiar?). TheGRID will also show users which of their friends are in the area – they are then able to make contact with them through IM.

The best bit though is that TheGRID users can leave blogs around cities such as a review of a meal at a restaurant. They can include anything from basic text messages to photos and even video clips. That I like, but dangerous after a skinful on a Friday night.

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