JupiterResearch: Mobile Valentine's

Julie Ask posts at the Jupiter Analyst Weblogs that according to Verizon, "their customers sent 20 percent more SMS text messages on 2/14 than on average." She notes that according to Jupiter's data, "using text messages to flirt and get dates is equally popular among teens and adults ... especially 15 year olds."

She then lists out some companies in the mobile matchmaking space. On a side note, she writes Alltel is trying to drive usage of picture messaging with a new mobile sweepstakes, and that "ALL one needs is an Alltel camera phone and the Fujifilm postcard application." She opines:

It's hard to believe that it's 2006 and operators still have to run campaigns of this type - that it's not open across carriers. Fun idea - including the sweepstakes, but difficult when it is so constrained. Alltel has 10 million subscribers (order of magnitude). When I mulitply that number by the percentage of mobile subscribers that we show using MMS, sending photos to friends from their phones, or posting pictures to web sites or other properties to be viewed by friends ...., the number of potential participants becomes very small.