First SA mobile geo-tagged doccie

Users can explore Sowetan youth culture on their cellphones from anywhere in SA through The Grid's map interface, or by physically touring the famous township and watching documentary clips on their phones at the locations where they were shot.

Vodacom's executive head of mobile advertising and social media Rick Joubert said, “Soweto is a very exciting space. There is always so much happening and it's often the youth driving this forward.

“We didn't want to do the usual ‘township tour' to showcase The Grid's new LBS technology. We wanted to give people and the rest of the world a glimpse into the future of South Africa and what is hot and happening at street level. What better way than to launch Mobikasi, the world's first geo-tagged doccie for cellphones?”

Splits up the content

The location-based documentary looks at people, music, fashion, social issues and places of interest. Instead of showing the 25 minute documentary in a linear fashion from start to finish, Mobikasi splits the content up into 25 inserts of one minute each. Each one-minute clip covers a different topic that is relevant to the youth in Soweto and is geo-tagged to the location where it was shot.

This means that viewers can now explore Soweto's vibrant youth culture by virtually "travelling" through a mobile streetmap of the township and stopping off at various locations to enjoy the one-minute video clips.

The first Mobikasi ‘episode' features, among others, a street fashion crew called the Smarteez, music producers Hempza and Vikinduku, a popular hair braider named Anna and the reigning Miss Soweto, Rochelle Mothapo. Also featured are Soweto's premier hangouts Sedibeng, Back Room and the popular Sunday buy-and-braai spot Panyaza.

Mobikasi can be viewed on The Grid through your cellphone or through The Grid website (www.thegrid.co.za). To get onto The Grid, simply SMS ‘Mobikasi' to 33313 (SMS charged at 50c, normal VAS rates apply) or visit www.thegrid.co.za/mobikasi. Once on The Grid, go to the Mobikasi group to watch the documentary clips and explore the excitement of Soweto youth culture.