One of the more interesting new developments in social networking that I have run across is Jambo. What makes it different than the usual fare of web 2.0, socially enabled software is that it combines the traditional social networking profile with proximity awareness.

Jambo uses your wireless connection to locate people you are connected to who are logged in nearby. At a busy conference, where contacts could be spread out over relatively large distances, this could be extremely useful.

While it all sounds great in theory, I have to wonder how well it really works. One of its major selling points is that it can connect you to people with common interests, but this still requires that you introduce yourself to perfect strangers — something that might be more easily accomplished through traditional networking.

Further, for people you actually know, why would a system like this be preferable to a phone call? Regardless, even if this service is not the most practical of tools, it is still a major step forward in integrating the web with our offline lives and for that I suggest everyone give it a try.

[If anyone from Jambo wants to put in their two cents, I would be really interested in hearing from you.]

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