Mobile Social Networking continues Strong Growth.

Social networking via mobile phones has been growing quickly in the US for over a year, and it still has the momentum of one of the fastest-growing content categories on mobile.

March 2011 research from comScore found that growth in unique users of mobile social networking over the previous three months was nearly 46%, compared to 43.3% for maps and 40.2% for weather. Social networking was not only the largest growth area during the period, but it was also the only one of the top three that is used for entertainment rather than utilitarian purposes.

The rising adoption of smartphones is helping contribute to the popularity of mobile social networking. comScore reported that 31% of mobile users had a smartphone in March, and nearly half of all new mobile device purchases were smartphones, up from just 29.3% last year. eMarketer also estimates 31% of mobile users will be smartphone users this year.

Arbitron and Edison Research found in February that 43% of all US consumers ages 12 and up were mobile social networkers, up from 32% in 2010. And those who visited social networks several times a day updated nearly as often via mobile as via PC.

The continued increase in smartphone penetration—estimated by eMarketer at 35% next year and 43% by 2015—will fuel this trend and make mobile social networking the norm for a sizeable segment of the population.

For more information at http://www.emarketer.com.