del.icio.us tags 03.27.07

Mobile in Africa — In Kenya (via PSFK), mobile company Safaricom has launched M-PESA, a new service to transfer money via cell phone/SMS. According to PSFK, Kenya has one of the fastest growing rates of cell phone use in the world. I'm a fan of of the photo of the laughing woman farmer who has apparently just received money from her dutiful son in Nairobi.

Asian Social Networks — Mashable shared the news of two new social networks (it still astounds me how many of these things pop up every day). IndyaRocks was launched in private beta (you need to ask for an invite), but Naveen from It's Me . . . Just Me writes over at India Blog Watch that he received his invite within an hour of making his request. While I was traveling in Europe last week, CNN International had a week long special on "India's Generation Next". According to CNN, "Nearly one out of 10 people on the planet are under 25 years old and living in India." While the percentage of Internet users in that group is relatively small — I think one of the segments I watched said it was about 25 percent — that's still a pretty enormous potential pool of users for IndyaRocks, particularly if the network also draws in Indian youth living outside of India.

The other notable social network was also for Asians: Ningin. I'm trying to figure out who exactly they're trying to target, as "Asians" is a pretty enormous category. With everyone going niche, a social network that appears to be relevant to more than half the world's population is about as far as you can go in the opposite direction.

Katie and the Edwards — You may be ignoring my poll, but folks out there can't shut up about Katie Couric's sit down with John and Elizabeth Edwards on this week's 60 Minutes. The comments on the CBSNews.com page are now up to page 87 . . .

Speaking of Health Issues — I've got one last social network item. TauMed, the health social network which has apparently been around for a while, is going to be adding some new features next week, including a social bookmarking feature that I'm interested to see. (As always, thanks to Mashable.)