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Online social networks have evolved from their original purpose of being just virtual meeting places where people can interact with one another to becoming an important platform for innovation. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the salient features of these social networks and discusses how the social networking arena has become a platform for the development of innovative technological applications and content. With the advent of an increasingly stable mobile platform, the development of Location Based Services and the adoption of mobile devices such as smart phones by a wide variety of users, social networks have evolved from “pureplay” Web-based applications to hybrid (Web-based and mobilebased) applications and those which are based entirely on the mobile platform. Case studies were developed on three representative companies in this burgeoning industry: Dodgeball, a New York City …