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Brits Top Mobile Social Networking Usage
The mobile research firm, M:Metrics has issued its findings on the audience for mobile social networking. The firm found that the British are more inclined to use social networking applications than are American or German mobile phone users, with 10.1% of Britons, 7.2% of Germans, 6.5% of French and 6.7% of Americans reporting they uploaded photos or videos to the Web, used chat or used dating applications in the month of April.
The firm found that the demographics of subscribers who generate user-created content are similar across the three geographies, with students, particularly those aged 13-17, being the most predisposed to the activity. The monthly survey, which is the largest of its kind, also revealed that males are the most active, comprising of 56.2% of the audience in the UK, 59% of the German audience, 62.4% of the U.S. audience and 56.8% in France.
Monthly Use of Social Networking Applications
| Activity | % UK Subs | % German Subs | % French Subs | % US Subs |
| Uploaded video to Web | 2.8 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.9 |
| Usedchat | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 3.8 |
| Uploadedphoto to Web | 6.9 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.7 |
| Accessed dating service | 1.1 | 0.9 | .8 | 1.4 |
| Likely to post a photo or video to Web in coming year | 15.2 | 6.2 | 12.9 | 11.9 |
| Engaged in any social networking activity | 10.1 | 7.2 | 6.5 | 6.7 |
| Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright (c) 2006. Survey of German, UK, French and US mobile subscribers. Data based on three-month moving average for period ending 30 April, 2006, n=15,234, Germany; 15,152, UK; 12,711, France; 34,605, US | ||||
In the UK market, UMTS operator 3 has the highest percentage of socially networked subscribers creating their own content, at 17.4%. In the U.S., T-Mobile has the highest penetration, at 10%, in the French market SFR leads with 7.1% and in the German market it's O2, with 10.6% of its base using at least one of the applications.
"As we have seen with the rise in MySpace, YouTube and Flickr, there is a substantial population of connected creators on the Web," said Mark Donovan, vice president and senior analyst, M:Metrics. "With as many as 10 percent of mobile subscribers participating in this activity over the operator network, there is a sizable business here across the entire mobile sector, which will only grow when more of these sites fully integrate mobile access."
"The mobile content industry has learnt that the ringtone and games markets are not just about the youth and are broadening their offerings accordingly," added Paul Goode, vice president and senior analyst, M:Metrics. "This is not just older groups catching up, but also the youth moving on to become creators rather than just the consumers. Social networking is the most youth-driven category of mobile content."
Posted to the site on 15th June 2006