Radio Frequency Identification Tags and Social Media

While I was going trough the readings of the first week, I came across a paragraph in the article of Kaplan and Haenlein of 2010. In the last paragraph they report a new upcoming trend named, Mobile Web 2.0. What they are focusing on is the point that in the near future a mobile device will be the primary Internet connection tool for most people in the world. What interested me was the Radio Frequency Identification tag, which most of you and I know is being used in inventory systems, logistic systems, etc.  For those of you don’t know what RFID is, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification (I know it is not a reliable source, but it gives you an idea what it is)

Thus I began a search on the Internet, looking for a link between the RFID technology and social media, and if this technology is already being used by companies. And guess what? It is already in use and the results are pretty amazing.

Here is a video of Vail resorts, they launched a social gaming app named “Epic Mix”, which enables skiers and snowboarders to track their activities and share them with their friends.

Another example would be Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola hosted the first ever and real-life RFID event connected with Facebook.

The last example, who doesn’t love ice-cream? An ice-cream shop in Minnesota started using RFID flavor tags. How does this work? Every time a flavor enters the dipping case an RFID tag sends customers, who love that flavor, a real time update. http://www.techworld.com.au/article/346676/ice_cream_rfid_chips_go/

In the end, coming back on the Coca-Cola real-life RFID event. I remember Jon wrote something about the dangers of social media. The real time updates with the RFID tag is handy, but what are the dangers? What if someone at the Coca-Cola event had some bad intentions and stole your personal RFID tag, loaded with your Facebook-account and your password?

Found any other examples? Feel free to comment!

Michael