A new study claims that more than 229.5 million mobile subscribers worldwide may use mobile social networking services by 2012.
The study, from In-Stat, said that Millennials, otherwise known as Generation Y, will be among the key demographic drivers of this mobile social networking trend.
As per the report, titled “Mobile Social Networking: Marketing to Millennials,” blogging, photo and video sharing, games, SMS text messaging, instant messaging and location-based socialization services will all mesh into the social networking experience from a mobile phone.
The introduction last year of the Internet-enabled and user-friendly Apple iPhone has changed user expectations of the mobile phone.
However, the key challenge in the online space afflicts social networking in mobile too: how should social networks and application developers generate revenue from their services?
Advertising, subscription services and premium upgrades are the three sources of revenue for mobile social network applications.
Social network advertising remains an experiment for marketers, although revenue this year is estimated at $1.5 billion, according to In-Stat, Scottsdale, AZ.
Source :Mobile Marketer
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