Overview Mobile Social Networking in Proximity (MSNP): Applications, Characteristics and Challenges

Recently, mobile social networking applications have gained tremendous attention, which free users from face-to-monitor life, while they still can share information and stay in touch with their friends on the go. However most MSN applications regard mobile terminals just as entry points to existing social networks, depend on centralized servers (for storage and processing of all application/context data) and continual Internet connectivity, even though mobile users are within proximity area (like campus, event spot, and community), and can directly exchange data through various wireless technologies (e.g., WiFi Direct, etc.). In this paper, we focus on thoroughly over viewing the mobile social networking in proximity (MSNP), including existing applications, characteristics and challenges. Our primary goal is to identify the characteristics, technical challenges and potential solution for future MSNP applications, capable to flexibly adapt to different application domains and deployment requirements.