Here comes the Mobile Society!

Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, which have dramatically altered the online landscape, are having a growing impact on the mobile world, too.

According to the new “Mobile Social Communities” report from ABI Research, the social networking phenomenon that has swept the Internet in the past few years is about to have a big impact on mobile phones and devices, too.

The report states that “mobile social communities” currently number almost 50 million members worldwide, and that number is projected to rise to 174 million in 2011.

“The rapid rise of online social communities has done more than bring the ‘pen pal’ concept into the 21st century,” said Clint Wheelock of ABI. “It has created a new paradigm for personal networking. In a logical progression, many social communities are now based on the mobile phone and other portable wireless devices instead of (or as well as) the PC. Such mobile social communities extend the reach of electronic social interaction to millions of people who don’t have regular or easy access to computers.”

The brisk pace of mobile social community growth presents opportunities for new entrants hoping to join established players such as SMS.ac, AirG and Jumbuck that provide the technology and marketing behind leading mobile communities.

In the opinion of ABI analysts, the opportunities to monetize mobile social communities fall into three main categories:

Mobile Operators profiting from the data usage that underpins all mobile community activities they carry, and in some cases from monthly subscription fees as well Companies sponsoring special interest communities that relate directly to their brands or services Mobile Communities offering downloadable merchandise for sale, such as ringtones or images
“What would help drive these communities is for more operators to sponsor them,” said Mr. Wheelock. “In the US, operators have not yet backed them, which means that it’s not simple for a mobile subscriber to get a new phone and immediately join an online social community. They have to seek out a third-party provider. But that’s going to change rapidly.”

Courtesy of http://www.emarketer.com