With social networks like facebook, and now google+, competing to be your source to keep in contact with friends and family I wonder how it will effect the mobile communication landscape. Right now, smart phones provide multiple ways to communicate, (talk, email, sms, video) all through different channels (or apps). With Skype integration into facebook and google+’s “hangout” feature allowing users to see and talk to friends through their systems, one has to wonder if the current cellular communication system is on it’s way out. Could the next stage of mobile communication be a 3g/4g/wifi device that’s always connected to the internet and have google+/facebook/skype as the OS? 

Are social networks poised to replace cellular service?