Its either getting close to Christmas or its April Fools day again. A release lands in our inbox from GoFresh, the company behind mobile social network itsmy.com. The missive says that the company is taking steps to protect its users, not only within the community, but also on the streets. As part of this initiative, it has submitted a concept design for a new street sign to the European Union in Brussels that will call the attention of all road users to mobile Internet usage outdoors.
People meet other people in mobile social networks around the world every minute. But how often do they accidentally meet people in person while surfing the mobile web outdoors, the company asks. A survey carried out among more than 1,000 mobile community users carried by itsmy.com earlier this month reveals that 64% of respondents worldwide have already bumped into someone else or fell over something while they were surfing the web on their mobile while walking down the street.
43% of male and 55% of female respondents admitted to having had a collision with other people, doors and even bicycles while surfing the mobile web. After submitting the design to the European Union, itsmy.com says it will also submit it to the US authorities.
This idea has been developed by itsmy.com as the Internet usage via mobile phones grows dramatically, says Mikko Saarelainen, Director, Communities at itsmy.com, probably ironically, but perhaps not. We feel responsible for our users, not only in mobile Internet (sic) but also outside. Our users have an average community usage time of 52 hours per month with their mobile phones! And we want to make these hours not only entertaining, but also safe.
Who said those crazy Germans didnt have a sense of humour.