eMarketer on Mobile Social Networks

The glue that further helps users maintain their real-life interactions

NEW YORK (Nov. 18, 2009)—Social networking is one of the fastest-growing activities among mobile users. As one of the main ways mobile users communicate with one another, social networking—the exchange and discussion of information, content and media on shared communities such as Facebook, MocoSpace and foursquare—is proving a significant driver of Internet usage on mobile devices.

eMarketer predicts that mobile social network users worldwide will grow more than fivefold between 2009 and 2014, rising from 141.4 million users in 2009 to 760.1 million in 2014.

The number of mobile users accessing social networks from their mobile devices will reach 607.5 million worldwide by 2013, representing 43% of global mobile Internet users. In the US, mobile social networkers will total 56.2 million by 2013, accounting for 45% of the mobile Internet user population.

“Yet, as impressive as these numbers are, gaining a voice in the conversations taking place across mobile social networks will prove challenging for marketers,” said Noah Elkin, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the report, “Mobile Social Networks: Marketing by Location Shows Potential.” Both mobile and social still constitute emerging channels.

Part of the reason for the current status is that Facebook and MySpace, leading social networks among mobile users in both the US and the EU, have robust mobile applications that have remained ad-free.

In the meantime, other, smaller mobile social networks, including MocoSpace and peperonity, offer display inventory for purchase, with a range of targeting capabilities. Companies like these have had a chance to thrive.

Still, dedicated mobile-social ad inventory remains limited. The biggest near-term opportunities will come from location-aware applications, services and offers, which provide value in the form of contextual relevance and which are increasingly popular among smartphone owners.

eMarketer developed its global and US mobile social networking users forecast by first estimating the size of the mobile Internet user population and then applying historical data from publicly available studies on mobile Internet and social networking adoption.

Figures are based on users who maintain an active profile on and visit at least monthly one or more sites where social networking is the primary activity. Users who access blogs (as either readers or publishers) or YouTube are not included.

Source: eMarketer