EU5: Mobile social networking audience up 44%

The study showed that the audience for mobile social networking in the EU5 region grew 44% in the last year with 55.1 million mobile users in the EU5 accessing social networking sites or blogs via their mobile devices during September 2011.

"Over the past year we have seen social networking use grow rapidly among mobile users across Europe, driven largely by the growth in smartphone adoption, making it easier than ever for users to stay connected and engage in social activities while on-the-go," said Jeremy Copp, comScore Europe vice president for Mobile. "More notably, the rate of growth in daily social networking usage has surpassed even the rate of growth in total social networking adoption among mobile users, suggesting that the behaviour is becoming even more ingrained into people's daily mobile lives. As social networks continue to invest in improving the user experience on mobile devices and tablets, it will be interesting to see how social behaviours on the mobile platform further evolve."

1 in 4 EU5 mobile users access social media

In September 2011, 55.1 million EU5 mobile users accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device, representing 23.5% of the total mobile audience. Nearly half - 46.8% - of this audience reported accessing social networking sites on a daily basis. Interestingly, the growth in daily social networking use from the previous year outpaced that of mobile social networking access as a whole (67% vs. 44%), indicating that the mobile platform is proving to be conducive to very frequent social networking use. While most mobile users accessed social networking sites via a mobile browser (31.3 million), the number of people using mobile apps doubled in the previous year to 24.2 million.

Twitter and LinkedIn mobile usage more than doubles over the past year

Several social networking brands posted significant gains for their mobile audiences over the past year. Approximately 39 million mobile users or 71% of the EU5 mobile social networking audience accessed Facebook via a mobile device in September 2011 - the largest mobile audience of any social network - and an increase of 54% in the past year. Nearly 8.6 million mobile users accessed Twitter.com, representing a 115% jump from the previous year. LinkedIn grew by a notable 134% to 2.2 million unique users, more than doubling its user base during the same time period. Spanish social network Tuenti.com received 2.3 million unique users, growing nearly 60%.

*Includes mobile browser and app access.
** Excludes third party services such as Tweetdeck

More than 40% of mobile social networking users engage with brands

Research from the new social media metrics available in the comScore MobiLens service provides deeper insight into the behaviour of mobile users on social networking sites. In September 2011, nearly 3 in 4 mobile social networking users reported reading posts from people known personally, and more than 60% posted status updates on their mobile devices. Mobile social networking users also engaged with brands on their mobile devices, as 44.3% reported reading posts from organisations, brands, or events, and a similar percentage (41.6%) reported reading posts from public figures or celebrities. In addition, more than a quarter (26.7%) of mobile social networking users reported receiving coupons, offers, or deals on their phones.

September 2011 EU5 mobile benchmark data

The table below shows comScore's September 2011 mobile benchmark data, including a review of mobile consumption behaviours and device penetration for the five European countries under measurement. These benchmarks are published by comScore to provide the most up-to-date snapshot of the mobile industry. Further information on these benchmarks, and other data included above, can be provided upon request.