The key to future digital communities is the mobile phone. It is the biggest digital platform on the planet, with something in the region of 1/3rd of the planet already carrying one. It is therefore already the most broadly used payment mechanism, and far and away the most popular communication system on earth. It is obvious that business should take advantage of the voice and data communication channels that it presents, but business' with an eye for transparency and inclusion should increasingly look to add it not only into the mix as part of a multi-platform strategy, but strive to encourage user participation.

Community sites can be an end in themselves, but brands should look to embrace the opportunities of community by providing a mobile platform centred on the values of the brand for users to participate with the brand and each other. Generating a popular sticky site could generate a level of advocacy rarely achieved through any other advertising or marketing channel. From Blogs and WIKIs, forums, reviews, podcasts, photos and tagging, there are numerous tools that can be used to plug into the web, or extend a mobile website and build community.