Patrick Moorhead is president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, a highly regarded high-tech industry analyst firm focused on the disruptive ecosystems of smartphones, tablets, personal computers, living room devices and social media.

New social media service Path promises to bring your true friends (not just acquaintances) together in a much more personal way. However, neither Path, nor Facebook, nor Google+ have fully comprehended that personal circles vary by context, and that context changes rapidly and infinitely.  

In the end, while services like Path get us closer to “personal,” they are still very much “broadcast” versions of social media. Ultimately, new services will arise that will allow the user to easily and naturally build relationships, physically meet and communicate with one’s rapidly morphing groups of true friends.        

How Humans Interact

To fully understand how structured broadcast and personal social models differ, we need to look at real life. First and foremost, people segment friends and groups based on a specific context. To put it simply, there are people we are very close with, people we may have never heard of, but who seem “safe,” then there are thousands of groups in-between. And that context only changes more over time. Even though it sounds confusing, we build and segment groups because the action has been hard-wired into our brains.  

The “Broadcast” Social Media Problem

The Facebook, Google+ and Path networks liken online interaction to shouting in different-sized movie theaters, each of which contains a different combination of close friends, family members and acquaintances. Most people in the movie theater aren’t even listening; others listen but ignore; and an even smaller group reacts to what’s being said.

For most people on the receiving end, a post is typically out of context, irrelevant, doesn’t require a response or was just plain missed. For example, some children aren’t on Facebook during school hours, and many older demographics don’t check notifications on a regular basis, or else they use their accounts for very specific purposes only.  

What Defines “Personal” Today?

I outlined the challenges that come with a “broadcast” model of social media. So what do I mean by “personal?” Quite simply, personal reflects how we interact in the physical world.

The infinite number of groups we encounter in the everyday world communicate in a way you would expect: over the phone, through text, BlackBerry Messenger, face to face and via email. However, some of the tools we employ — even in today’s fast-paced digital environment — are slow, inefficient or even inaccessible.  

For example, three families may want to go out to dinner after the eighth grade basketball game. Let’s assume there are six parents total and kids don’t get a vote. Just imagine how many texts it will take to arrange this. One dad has to work late and will need to meet up with the group later. Another dad is a vegan. Mom really wants a steak. Kids from one family hate Mexican restaurants. One mom decides to send out an Evite to solve all the issues, while another mom decides she’ll send a message out on Facebook, but she’s not friends with third mom.

My head spins in these kinds of circumstances — but this is real life.  There must be an easier way to manage, right?  

Personal Tools to Fill the Gap

If today’s personal tools don’t work well enough, then what would a better set of tools look like? The following features would would help improve personal interactions. Here’s what made my wish list.

• The ability to create groups from two to 50 people, based on an “event” or “theme.”
• Events would indicate locations along with all relevant information (hours, ratings, reviews, direction, maps, parking, etc.).
• Themed groups would contain a name, description and privacy options.
• We would have the ability to see all the threads in a message. 
• We would be able to add real friends who are typically in our everyday address books.
• The network would be multi-platform, and feature smartphone, tablet and PC access.
• The network would feature email, map and calendar integration.

This kind of a personal tool wouldn’t replace broadcast tools, but would operate alongside broadcast tools like Facebook, Google+ and Path.

New, More Personal Tools Emerging

Personal tools like group text and Evite work alongside broadcast tools, but they are inefficient or slow. However, new tool Forecast fits a few of the criteria above. The app tells friends specifically where you will be going in the future and allows people comment on those plans.

Another tool, called Goba, is more personal than broadcast. It allows the user to set up events or groups from his address book. Those in the group receive messages and can chat from a smartphone, tablet or PC. When I met with the Goba team, we discussed incorporating local data into the events portion of the tool. This way, users could suggest places to go and have access to enough data to make a good decision. Then, once the group decided on a plan, the maps would help individuals get there.  

Personal tools have a long way to go, but these kinds of services will be the next big thing in social media. After all, just how many more movie theaters do we need to scream in?

Image courtesy of Flickr, selva

More About: contributor, Facebook, features, Google, Opinion, Path, Social Media

After widespread online protests that saw several sites including Wikipedia go dark, the U.S. House of Representatives effectively killed the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) last week.

But the spirit of SOPA lives on in a bill before the Canadian Parliament, according to at least one law professor.

Michael Geist, who specializes in Internet and ecommerce law at the University of Ottawa, says that Bill C-11, currently under review in Canada’s House of Commons, could bring SOPA-like copyright law to the country.

Bill C-11, titled the Copyright Modernization Act, aims to replace the country’s current copyright law with something more compatible with the days of broadband.

Geist says it goes further than that. Citing a document that appears to be a set of proposed amendments to the legislation from a music-industry representative, Geist makes the case that the same lobbying groups that backed SOPA are laying the groundwork for SOPA-like rules in Bill C-11.

“While SOPA may be dead (for now) in the U.S.,” Geist writes, “Lobby groups are likely to intensify their efforts to export SOPA-like rules to other countries. With Bill C-11 back on the legislative agenda at the end of the month, Canada will be a prime target for SOPA style rules.”

In particular, Geist says the idea of blocking sites from the Internet — or at least the Internet in Canada — is on the list of proposals. The note, dated March 1, 2011, suggests that the bill should “permit a court to make an order blocking a pirate site such as The Pirate Bay to protect the Canadian marketplace from foreign pirate sites.”

Besides that, the proposals would incentivize Internet service providers to terminate users who infringe copyrights more than once. Geist points out that there’s no mention of due process or what sort of proof would be required. Also under consideration is an “enabler” provision, which would target sites that aren’t necessarily pirate havens, but are primarily used for piracy.

Empire Avenue, a virtual-currency and gaming site based in Canada, came out against SOPA, and its CEO says he expected such legislation to come to his country and elsewhere after SOPA failed.

“One of the points I made when the SOPA debate was happening was that if SOPA failed, which it did, at least this time around, what would end up happening is that similar bills would be [proposed] in Canada and the U.K.,” says Duleepa Wijayawardhana, CEO of Empire Avenue. “The idea is to get these kinds of bills passed in other places and the say, ‘Hey, U.S., shouldn’t you be on board?’”

Wijayawardhana is optimistic that just getting the word out will be enough to ensure that any copyright legislation that passes will be fair.

“There’s a chance lobbyists will succeed. Our job as startups, innovators and entrepreneurs is to make sure people understand what about these laws will prevent stuff from happening. And I think as we explain to people why they’re bad, people get it.”

Are you concerned about Bill C-11? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

More About: Bill C-11, Canada, SOPA, stop online piracy act

The prom king and queen of Silicon Valley will be attending the State of the Union address tonight at the U.S. Capitol as guests of First Lady Michelle Obama.

We’re referring to Mike Krieger, co-founder of rapidly growing iPhotography app Instagram and Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

These two tech notables’ inclusion at the State of the Union may suggest the president’s annual address will focus on technology, which Obama believes is a surefire way to create new jobs.

In February 2011, Obama dined with tech industry luminaries in Silicon Valley, including the late Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Eric Schmidt and Dick Costolo.

“The meeting is a part of our ongoing dialogue with the business community on how we can work together to win the future, strengthen our economy, support entrepreneurship, increasing our exports, and get the American people back to work,” Obama said last year.

A New York Times report this past weekend revealed a conversation from Jobs’ dinner with Obama. According to the report, Obama asked Jobs why iPhones and iPads can’t be made in the U.S. instead of China.

Beyond their much-publicized dinner last year, Jobs had other encounters with the current U.S. president. According to Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder met with Obama and warned him that he faced a one-term presidency because the administration wasn’t sufficiently business friendly.

Jobs’s widow, who rarely gives interviews and who only occasionally appeared with her late husband in public, is active in philanthropy and supports a range of progressive initiatives including programs aiding the environment and education. She was also a supporter of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential run against President Obama.

SEE ALSO: Barack Obama Joins Instagram

Also sitting alongside the First Lady are Warren Buffett’s secretary, Debbie Bosanek, and a homeowner who was able to stay in her home thanks to the Home Affordable Refinance Program, according to CBS MarketWatch.

Michelle Obama has recently begun publicly embracing tech more, having joined Twitter early this month.

What do you expect the President to say about technology during the State of the Union? Let us know your predictions in the comments.

Todd Wasserman co-reported this story.

BONUS: Inspirational Steve Jobs Quotes

Jobs quote from 2005 Stanford commencement address. Posted by livinglauren.

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: instagram, michelle obama, state of the union, steve jobs

Tonight, President Obama will be addressing the nation in the annual State of the Union address. Mashable has been invited by the White House to attend a State of the Union tweetup.

The event (using hash tags #sotu #whtweetup) will be held at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C, next door to the White House. We’ll be watching the White House’s enhanced version of the State of the Union, which will include graphics, data and statistics that TV audiences won’t see (If you’d like to see the stream, visit the White House’s website).

During the speech, we’ll be watching for any technology-related announcements the president might make. We’ll keep you updated about what those announcements could mean for you.

SEE ALSO: How to Watch and Interact With the State of the Union Address Online

After the State of the Union, we’ll be attending a panel with White House deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council Mark Zuckerman, special assistant to the president for education policy Roberto Rodriguez, deputy director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications Ben Rhodes and deputy White House communications director Jen Palmieri.

They’ll be taking questions from the tweetup audience and over Facebook, YouTube and Google+. If you’ve got a question you’d like Mashable to ask, tweet @mashusworld with the hashtag #sotu.

The tweetup will begin at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday and conclude at 11 p.m. Follow along with the Mashable US & World team as we bring you the speech and panel live:

[View the story "The State of the Union, Live From the White House" on Storify]

Images Courtesy of The White House

More About: president obama, state of the union, White House

When it was launched in August, The Sims Social was the toast of Facebook. This social network-based version of the classic Will Wright game, where you get to guide your avatars toward the twin goals of advancing their careers and acquiring more stuff, was pretty damn hot. A month after release, it had overtaken nearly all those Zynga games at the top of the Facebook tree. Only CityVille remained more popular.

Fast forward to January, and that early growth hasn’t quite panned out. The Sims Social has settled into 4 million players a day, according to metrics firm App Data — impressive numbers, but down from the 4.6 million players it had daily at launch, and below such Zynga hits as FarmVille, Castleville and Words With Friends.

But that doesn’t mean the Sims haven’t racked up some impressive stats on Facebook. Herewith, an infographic from Electronic Arts offers everything you wanted to know about The Sims Social but were afraid to ask: How many times Sims have sex daily (a PG-rated, sheet-covered activity known in the game as “woohoo”), how often those gossipy avatars share secrets, and what the most popular personality traits and shopping items are.

So the EA game may not have toppled Zynga, but with this kind of activity — and 22 million users logging in a month — it’s hard to say it isn’t still a hit, with a solid fan base.

More About: electronic arts, Facebook, sims social, the sims, trending

If you’ve got an Android phone, you’ve probably been increasingly concerned about malware, which flared up a few times over the past year — even showing up in the official Android Market at one point. But just how bad is the problem? Lookout, a company that specializes in softtware for mobile security, just released a new app that can satisfy your curiosity.

Lookout’s Mobile Threat Tracker shows the location of every malware incident tracked by its app on a 3D map of the world. From what the app shows, there are a lot. The incoming streaks probably show things a little more dramatic than they need to be, but it’s still a sobering reminder that phones are rapidly becoming big business for malware creators.

Even then, the app doesn’t quite give the full picture. It’s limited by the penetration of Lookout, which is used widely in the U.S. and Europe (mainly Germany) in particular. Lookout says the free app shows threats in “near real-time,” with the date and time of incidents visible on the bottom of the screen, so you’re getting a fairly up-to-date picture of what Android phones are up against on a daily basis. Besides just the impressive visual, the app also calls up the top three specific threats, providing a little extra information on what the evildoing software does. It’ll also give a percentage of spyware vs. malware.

Last year, Android users had their first big scare when the trojan DroidDream was found in apps that were in the Android Market. DroidDream wasn’t just a mild piece of malware — it actually could root the phone it was installed on. Google rapidly responded by removing the apps from the Market and then exercising its rarely used “kill switch” to delete the apps in question on any phone that had installed them.

If you own an Android phone, do you have a security app installed? If so, which one? And will you get Lookout’s Threat Tracker? Let us know in the comments.

More About: android, Lookout, malware

Virgin America has named a jet plane Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish, after a memorable quote by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

The plane – an Airbus A320 – first flew in late 2011, and it has the quote written on its nose.

“The ‘Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish’ aircraft name was actually submitted as a tribute to Mr. Jobs by one of our employees in an internal plane naming competition,” Virgin America spokesperson Abby Lunardini told CNET.

Virgin America is “known for tech-forward amenities we offer onboard,” said Lunardini. It was the first carrier to offer fleetwide Wi-Fi in May 2009, and it recently unveiled a new in-flight entertainment system, due for a late 2012 consumer release.

As for the quote itself, it originates from the 1970′s magazine The Whole Earth Catalogue, and Steve Jobs uttered it during his 2005 Stanford commencement address, which is considered to be one of the most inspiring speeches from the legendary Apple CEO and co-founder. Check it out in its entirety below.

For more inspirational quotes from Steve Jobs, check out the slideshow below.

Jobs quote from 2005 Stanford commencement address. Posted by livinglauren.

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: steve jobs, virgin america

The Mashable Meme Machine is a daily look at five hilarious viral topics spreading across the web right now.

I hope you all had a relaxing weekend, because we’re back with a bunch of Internet weirdness! This, folks, is the Meme Machine, and it definitely never gets the day off.

This weekend was full of ups and downs: Bronies celebrated, and football jocks mourned. Some paid homage to Steve Jobs in dog form, while others insisted on rehashing Lana Del Rey. You see, folks, the Internet moves in cycles, both light and dark — awful and awesome.

Luckily, we try to keep it as awesome as possible, so enjoy your Monday munchies and get to snacking on some sweet comedy goodness.

Discover any funny memes lately? Let us know. Feel free to contact Brian Anthony Hernandez (@BAHjournalist), Christine Erickson (@christerickson) or Lauren Hockenson (@lhockenson).

1. Steve Dogs

This variation of the popular 2011 meme “Yes, This is Dog” features a Husky looking an awful lot like the late, great Steve Jobs. Its origins are dubious at best, but the image of the canine staring icily into the camera while wearing the innovator’s signature turtleneck has blown up all over the Internet.

Yes, that is Steve Dogs.

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: features, GIFs, Meme, Meme Machine, sports, tumblr

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Just in time for the 84th Academy Award nominations, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is rolling out a digital campaign, entitled “Celebrate the Movies.”

Starting Monday, iconic moments from 84 films in Oscar history will be showcased online and on digital billboards in New York and Los Angeles. Fans can view digital images at Oscar.com and at YouTube.com/Oscars. Film fanatics can also share their favorite movie-going experiences using social media.

The images for the promotion will debut in groups of 20. The first group of images include scenes from The Godfather, Forrest Gump and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The Academy Award nominations will be announced on Tuesday at 8:30a.m EST/5:30a.m. PST online at Oscar.com. After the nominations are announced, Shira Lazar of What’s Trending will host a live show discussing the nominations and the social buzz following Oscar. I’ll be joining Shira for the show, which will stream live at Oscar.com at 3:00p.m. EST/12:00p.m. PST.

Like the Grammy Awards and the Emmy’s, Oscar is slowly but surely becoming more digital and more social. We’ll be taking a closer look at Oscar’s digital campaign and social media outreach as we get closer to the awards.

The 84th Academy Awards will air on ABC on Feb. 26, 2012.

More About: academy awards, Oscars, oscars 2012

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Whether you love or despise 17-year-old international pop star Justin Bieber, you have his mom to thank (or blame) for thrusting him into the spotlight five years ago this month.

On Jan. 19, 2007, Pattie Mallett uploaded a video of her son performing Ne-Yo’s “So Sick” in Stratford, Ontario, to Bieber’s YouTube channel — kidrauhl.

Rap star Usher signed Bieber to a record label the following year in 2008. Since then, Bieber has taken the social media world by storm, attracting millions of followers across many networks. Bieber has 16.7 million Twitter followers and 39.4 million Facebook “Likes” and he’s just warming up.

Google Chrome recently chronicled Bieber’s impressive reach and presence on Google and YouTube in an ad below. The YouTube-star-turned-mega-celebrity most recently made a splash at the Consumer Electronics Show where he endorsed a gadget for robotic toys company TOSY.

SEE ALSO: YouTube in 2011 — How Its Busy Year Affects You

For a quick glimpse at Bieber’s high-profile YouTube ride, check out the fun tidbits below thanks to Danish social media agency Crisp Social, that created the infographic for Mashable. Bieber Fever, anyone?

More About: celebrities, Entertainment, justin bieber, Music, videos, viral videos, YouTube