A Mobile Peer-to-Peer Search and Retrieval Service for Social Networks

Abstract

This paper describes iTrust over SMS, a peer-to-peer search andretrieval service for social networks of mobile devices. iTrust overSMS enables mobile devices to collaborate with other mobile devices to distribute, search for, and retrieve information using SMS. With iTrust over SMS, there is no centralized search engine or centralized control and, thus, iTrust over SMS is less vulnerable to filtering and censorship by governments, corporations, or other organizations. In this paper, we describe the iTrust over SMS search and retrieval service, as well as participation in the iTrust over SMS social network. We present the user interface of iTrust over SMS, which enables a user to share information with other users, together with use cases of the iTrust over SMS service. We also show how frequent usage of the iTrust over SMS search and retrieval service encourages further participation in the social network.