M:Metrics released numbers on mobile social networking in the US and Europe. The U.S. had the largest audience — primarily mobile versions of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook — followed by the U.K., Spain, Germany and France. In the U.S. and Western Europe there were 12.3 million mobile social networkers overall, according to the data.
According to the M:Metrics release:
MySpace and Facebook are the top two social networking sites accessed via mobile in both the U.S. and UK. MySpace attracts 3.7 million U.S. and 440,000 UK mobile users. In America, Facebook’s mobile audience is about 2 million, and in Britain, about 307,000. Rounding out the top three is YouTube in the U.S., with 901,000 mobile visitors and Bebo in the UK, with 288,000.
Ultimately “mobile social networking” shouldn’t be seen simply as the mobile version of established social networking sites; it will be social media functionality as a component of mobile applications of all types.
I have a bit more discussion of the phenomenon at LocalMobileSearch.
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