Analytics company comScore has reported that social networking is the biggest draw for new users getting into the mobile Web. In November, 34 percent of MoSo users in Western Europe never accessed any other mobile web content. comScore also reports that this audience tends to be younger than average mobile web users, and has a larger proportion of women.
From the release:
“A large portion of the growth in the mobile Internet audience can be attributed to social networking,” observed Alistair Hill, analyst, comScore M:Metrics. “In the UK, for example, the audience of those accessing news and information, but not social networking services, with their mobile browser or an application grew by 149,000 unique users, whereas the number of those exclusively accessing social networking grew by six times that number in the past year. This development is encouraging for the future of the mobile Internet. Social networking is taking the mobile Internet out of the early adopter demographic, and into the mainstream.”"
What we think?
Mobile social network usage grew 152% from 2007 to 2008. There were 12.1 million users in Western Europe by the end of November last year. No one should be shocked that MoSos have more reliable, repeat users than any other type of mobile web site. Indications are those numbers will continue to climb, especially as data charges and SMS get cheaper and cheaper. Mobile social networks might well be the cheapest way to stay in touch, which is something they should keep in mind given the current climate.
There’s some other interesting stats in the comScore results. Particularly that playing downloaded games and watching video has dipped in most European markets. That’s really not good news for all the people pushing mobile TV this year!
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