Let’s see how long it takes me to fall in to my own trap! Okay, so this week I have been working on a few sites designed for mobile devices when it finally hit me in the face, much my desk seconds later, what was the point! I understand if you have a site, you should be able to view it on any device possible but there so many limitations when it comes to mobile devices it seems hardly worth using the device to surf the web. But if you think about it, what sites need to have mobile versions? What is so important on your site that people MUST be able to view it when they are out and about? News and information I understand, so that’s news websites and Wikipedia that should have mobile versions. What else? Social media? Twitter and Facebook, CHECK! Anything else? Blogs, okay fair enough but what about personal site and portfolios? Not really. Game sites don’t work, which I will go into later.

Other then content, let’s have a rundown of some of the limitations. Resolution aka screen size is a huge problem. If you’re using an iPhone (which it’s a pretty good chance at the moment) your screen is 320pixels wide. That is not very big, what size font can you read on that! Also, this is not the smallest resolution you have to be content with. So you can make your site fit any size using percentage changes but it sure does crap your style with fonts and buttons. Now let’s talk about images. Not all mobile devices support the web standards when it comes image formats. Almost all of them support gif and jpeg’s but only a few supports PNG. Why is this? Almost every site has switched to PNG formats to increase quality without blowing the file size.

Ah there’s the next kick in the teeth when it comes to mobile site, file sizes. How much bandwidth does your site in fact cost to view it? ALL the networks limit the amount of data you can use when surfing the net on your device. This is why mobile sites came to be in the first place, people were blowing their monthly bandwidth in a matter of hours due to the fact websites have been getting bigger! More code to make those smooth transactions from pages, pop-ups to flag you of messages, images, video, sound… they all add up and mobile networks “Can’t” handle the loads. So they limit you. What is the expect size for a mobile site, listed by the W3 web standards site? 22kb!! 22KBs to build a whole site! Let’s take that in to consideration, the logo at the top of my site is 8kbs! That means that I could have three logos on the site and I’ve killed my allowance.

Speaking of standards… there are none! Every device can use its own standards. Hell, every browser on every device can have different standards. And then we get to the biggest problem when it comes to web video and that is; do you have Flash?! Yes, I know allot of sites have switched to HTML5 for their video needs but not everyone. And it’s typical that the ones we’d like to use haven’t or wont, for whatever reason they give. And this is why you won’t see videos on my mobile site as flash may or may not be supported!

So what’s my point in this long winded rant? Yes I have created mobile sites but this should not be seen as me supporting them. I just can’t understand why anyone would want to use them! If you want to visit a website, wait till you get home and use your PC! Or if you really must, find some open wifi and pull out a netbook or laptop! Or even an iPad… what? SHOCKED that I’d support iPads? Ha haven’t you realised I’m evil yet!

There has been a lot of info and cries of witch craft when it comes down to how social sites use your info or how it displays it, and not everyone that uses theses sites understands what is really going on. I sat down with my brother last year and told him not to get a Facebook account as he would not understand what information other people could get from your updates and what he adds to his profile. Being 11 years old he smiled at me and said “Sure, I won’t get one”…
Next day, I get an invite to join as a friend on his Facebook page. Failure on my part to not explain my point better or was it the allure of his friends online and free games to steal as many hours as your will to give! I’m gonna go with 20% not understanding me, 75% the allure and 5% not to do as I ask, little bugger!

Now, I am not worried about what he is going to say to his friends on Facebook but I am worried about the privacy settings that he doesn’t know about and allot of people don’t either. What could they find out about him? Where he is playing with his friends? Where he goes to school? Worrying thoughts for anyone trying to look after a child. Now, before you cry “Well the parents should be keeping a better eye on him!” I ask, should they really? Facebook is advertised as a Private way to keep in touch with your friends and family members; and we have all fallen for the allure it offers. And if no one tells you what’s really going on, how can you know because they aren’t going to tell you outright what’s really going on.

As for myself, I have come to understand after 12years of being online that nothing you post online is private! Even in private messages to your friends and family via social networks or even emails are now scanned by a number of systems, either by ISPs or bot crawlers locking for advertising opportunities just to name a few. I’ve come to the outlook that there is a level of privatising info you want people to see or limiting information that can be found out about yourself. But understanding the methods and ways to do so are so complicated and numerous that it is simpler not to!

My other huge worry is down to the copyright of what goes onto theses social networks. You do not own what you post! Anything you post on Facebook becomes theirs! Those photos you added, owned by Facebook. The information you added to your profile can be used by Facebook to create advertising aimed solely at you, on any website you go to. Go on a shopping site that uses Facebook API and the things you just posted that you were thinking of buying will magically appear! Just for you! Good/Bad up to you, or do you really have the option?….

My Social Site Breakdown:

• Personal Facebook: For keeping in touch with people I know in person or family. I do not post important/private information or location. I do not add anyone I do not know in person and I limit everything added to the site about myself.
• Facebook Fanpage: Anyone can read and used solely to advertise my site (s).
• MySpace: Anyone can read and used solely to advertise my site (s).
• Google Profile: Public… not much else to say when it comes to google!
• Twitter: Used as a public shouting board and for advertising. Nothing is privately posted.