Mobile social networks are quite popular with the Millennial generation, just as social networking is, reports In-Stat .
Blogging, photo and video sharing, location-based socialization
services, games, SMS, and IM will eventually be combined to afford the
mobile user the entire social networking experience from a handset
application, the high-tech market research firm says. The mobile
handset will simply become an extension of the user in most aspects of
life.
"The critical issue most mobile social networking
site and application developers struggle with is how to make money with
their services," says Jill Meyers, In-Stat analyst. "There are three
primary methods of revenue generation for mobile social networking
applications-- advertising, subscription services, and premium upgrades."
Recent research by In-Stat found the following:
-
In-Stat predicts a steady growth rate culminating in the number of US
millennials subscribing to mobile social networking reaching nearly 30
million by the year 2012. - Social network advertising continues to be experimental to marketers, but 2008 revenues are predicted to be over $1.5 billon.
- Last year's introduction of the iPhone enabled the least techno-savvy user to surf the Internet, download and play music, take pictures, send messages, and record videos, all on a thin, touch-screen-operated unit.
This has changed mobile phone users' expectations.
Recent In-Stat research, US Mobile Social Networking and the Millennial Generation
(#IN0804034MCM), covers the worldwide market for mobile social
networking. It provides results of In-Stat’s 2007 Consumer Mobility
Study (CMS), drawn from a random selection of US residents subscribing
to a wireless service. It also analyzes market drivers and barriers,
and provides a forecast of mobile social networking users worldwide
through 2012. A roundup of US mobile social network providers is
included.