The Grid, Vodacom‘s location-based mobile social network, has partnered with e.tv to create a daily Mood Map of the country based on Grid user data.
The Grid allows users to set their mood to happy or sad; this data is then combined with each user‘s geographical location, and a map is produced, much like a weather map – except that the Mood Map shows “œhappy“ and “œsad“ percentages in each province, rather than cold fronts and approaching thunderstorms.
e.tv will feature the Mood Map every morning after the weather report on Sunrise (weekdays from 6AM to 8AM). The partnership is reportedly the first to see a news channel using data from a social networking platform for statistical purposes. It’s not the only recent partnership for The Grid, though – last December we reported on how the mobile social network had partnered with the HIV-911 programme to map out around 11,000 HIV-related support services across South Africa.
Vincent Maher, Portfolio Manager Social Media, Vodacom South Africa, says, “œThe partnership with e.tv is a great interactive way for users of a social network like the Grid to see how their actions influence the general mood of the country. We are using the data from a social network in an innovative way by showing users how their mood updates contribute to the overall mood of the country or province.“
To access the Grid, SMS “˜MOOD‘ to 33313 (50c/SMS) or visit onthegrid.mobi.
