A new report from comScore shows that both Facebook and Twitter users spend more time using those networks on mobile devices than they do on traditional computers or laptops.
People these days are using the mobile web to socialize (91%) compared to the 79% of desktop users who do the same. It appears that the mobile phone is actually a better platform for social networking than the PC.
Facebook mobile users spent more than 7 hours engaging via browsers or apps in March, compared to six hours via the desktop (according to CNET). Twitter mobile users, meanwhile, spent more than 2 hours engaging on mobile devices, as compared to just 20.4 minutes on Twitter.
"Social networking is probably the most important thing going on with mobile devices because the devices lend themselves to more social networking activities," said Nielsen's Jon Stewart, research director for technology and search. "When you're sitting at your PC you're not going to necessarily be Twittering about sitting at your desk, but when you're out and about in the world, you're more likely to have content and experiences that you want to share."
"Smartphones still only account for a relatively small percentage of the overall mobile subscriber base," said Stewart. "People are not willing to invest a lot of money for something that they already have, but if people get excited about new generations of phones that are coming out, and the fact that prices are falling...there's still a lot of growth opportunity.
One of the key drivers behind the growth in Smartphone socializing are technology improvements like host of applications, 3G network speeds, built in web browsers and mobile-ready websites and pricing drops, which have increased the overall user experience. And the upcoming array of mobile devices, including android and Windows mobile devices, that will compete with the iPhone and Blackberry will allow the market to continue to in its rapid expansion.
The Second reason is that a good many of folks out there still spend more time offline than on. For these people, screen time is spent doing business-related activities at the office (with the occasional jaunts over to YouTube and Facebook) followed by briefer after-hours web surfing that includes catching up with friends on Facebook and reading personal email, downloading music and other media, and/or playing games. But often it’s difficult to have these online thanks to other real world activities like cooking dinner, caring for the kids, watching primetime TV, running errands, etc. That's why it's no surprise to find that the rise of the mobile phone corresponds with the rise in the social networking sites numbers as it can be a do-anywhere activity that captures people's attention whenever they have free time instead of an activity that requires people make time for it.
"2011 proved to be a groundbreaking year for the mobile industry, with smartphones hitting the mainstream, tablets emerging as a formidable fourth screen, and consumers increasingly integrating mobile behaviors into their lifestyles," said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile, in a statement.
"As the industry continues to innovate and more consumers look to multiple devices and platforms to consume digital media, we expect the mobile and connected device landscape to be shaken up even further in 2012," he added.
