HOW IT WORKS
To lower the “barrier-to-entry” (Mourtzoukos et al., 2011), Currant profiles can be initiated using an existing Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account, allowing users to import friends, business contacts and existing contacts. This not only makes it easier for new users to join the network but it further builds on the “Grapevine Concept” of Currant: the idea of linking reviews through many electronic word-of-mouth sources. Here is an overview of the process:
• Login to Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account
• Information (preferences, friends, businesses, existing accounts) retrieved and transferred directly into Currant database
• List of restaurants in vicinity accessed through Currant database
• Users can post micro-blog reviews (limited to 140 characters) about the establishment, similar to Twitter tweets
• History is recorded for personal profiling; after 24 hours, any old “splashes” are removed from interface and can only be accessed and viewed by Vintage users
• User can “Start a Vine” if a Vine does not exist for any establishment, providing he or she is within 2km of the business
• Companies can also “Start a Vine” to market their businesses, adding to the Currant database
• Businesses can access the same public Vines and see all posted reviews and comments; they can instantly reply to comments if necessary
• More importantly, business can gather profiling information entered by users from other accounts as well as Currant account to generate user-specific feedback, promotions and marketing information
THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT MAKE IT WORK
As termed
in the Main Objectives section, Currant is “a location-service-based online
platform where time-sensitive user-generated microtext-based content and
business specific recommendations is collected in one central database and
displayed in a user-friendly and simple mobile layout”. From that definition
and the description of how the process works listed above, it is postulated
that it will primarily utilise technologies such as location-based services (LBS),
global positioning system (GPS), social networks and recommender systems. Other
secondary technologies that might be integrated into the system include
near-field communications (NFC) (O'Rourke, 2011), QR codes, cellular positioning and mashing up
with existing platforms such as Google Maps and Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn. Most
importantly, to incorporate all the elements, technologies and features of this
app, there will need to be a new online database created solely for Currant. The
following explains how these technologies are employed in each stage of the process.
Database
The online database
will use an Input-Process-Output (IPO) method that is organised by Data
Management System (DBMS) (Chan et al., 2011). The DBMS will allow the
information to be stored, modified or retrieved as needed. It will also allow
for the information to be analysed and controlled. The system will consist of
two components (Mourtzoukos et al., 2011). There will be a server backend where all
the information is stored and a moderator interface, where information can be
administered by the implementation of computer programming. The IPO is
comprised of three parts: the input is the sender of the message and the
content of the message. The process is the application programming interface (API)
(Mourtzoukos et al., 2011) where “splashes” are displayed; the output is the receiver
of the messages, either displayed on the interface, or organised and sent to
mobile devices.
Location-Based Services/Global Positioning
System/Cellular Positioning
LBS will be
another layer of computer programing required so the mobile device is able to
detect the locations of users and systematically, through comparison of the
information stored within Currant’s database, allow relevant information
regarding nearby restaurants to be displayed on the user interface of the
mobile device. LBS also has the ability to control time and location variables
of mobile devices. This is useful because Currant posts are time-sensitive and LBS
will only allow devices to locate users within either 2km or 5km of a given establishment
or to other users. The user’s position will have to be triangulated either
through satellites (GPS) or cell towers (cellular positioning when GPS is
unavailable in remote areas).
Social Networking
The
advantages of social media and networking have been analysed in previous
sections. In terms of the technology, microblogs, in specific, is an extremely
suitable way to track rich and diverse content in real-time (Sreenivasan
et al.,
2012). Unique to Currant as a social network, a chatting mechanism is applied (Mourtzoukos et al.,
2011) which enables users to chat one-to-one with other users or the business.
Recommender System
A recommender
system is a filtering process in which huge banks of data with characteristics
of particular interest is organised to provide personalised list
(Martinez-Lopez
et al., 2010). This will be required to provide alternative
suggestions of other nearby establishments to users.
Near-Field Communication
Near-field
technology will allow Splashes which are only within required distances to be
pushed on the mobile devices.
QR Codes
Restaurants
will have individual Currant QR codes posted outside; the scanning of the QR
code will take users straight to the specific Vine page for the restaurant, again
lowering the barrier of access.
Mash-up with Google Maps, Facebook, Twitter and
LinkedIn
A mash-up
with Google Maps and Google cell base is ideal in providing the information
needed for the use of LBS. For collaboration with other SNS, research indicates
that the integration of Facebook account settings can be done through a set of
authorisation process and codes (Mourtzoukos et al., 2011). Certain privacy and access
protocols are dispatched by Facebook and will be received in the database
system of Currant. The login to Facebook will thus generate account settings and
information to be used in the Currant database. One would hypothesise the process to be similar with Twitter and LinkedIn.
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