And the number of mobile social networks keeps on growing

If you thought social networking was a huge phenomenon, wait till you see the next generation of social networking – mobile social networking. Social networking has gone mobile big time and a healthy number of mobile users regularly visit social networking sites from their mobile phone.

Social networking giants like MySpace, Facebook, and Friendster have realized the enormous potential of mobile social networking and have released the mobile versions of their sites. However, the story doesn’t end there. In fact, it just begins there. Plenty of companies have started mobile social networks which have become tremendously popular with people.

First it started off as a new phenomenon and when mobile users showed great interest in them, mobile social networking sites became hugely popular. As a result, we now have a big list of mobile social networking sites and most importantly, the list keeps on growing. Check out a detailed list of mobile social networks here.

Categories: Mobile Social Networking.

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Pringo partners with NINJA Mobile

Pringo, the social networking solutions provider, has joined hands with NINJA Mobile, a mobile advertising specialist, to make its applications more appealing to mobile users by introducing new features.

From now on, mobile users will be able to access websites built on Pringo’s platform better than ever. They will be able to view content, post new content, and share their favorite content on the go with their friends through their mobile phones. Also, advertisers will now be able to send targeted, relevant ads, including video content, to users through the social networking sites built on Pringo’s platform.

This, in my opinion, benefits all three parties involved in the equation. First, the website owner will be able to monetize his site better, advertisers will be able to reach their target customer base better, and the end user will find it easier to access social networking sites from his mobile phone.

Mobile social networking is making its presence felt fast and companies like Pringo have realized its importance and started working on it. If you remember, Pringo signed a similar deal with a mobile marketing firm called Mozes some time back.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Mobile Social Networking.

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Mobile social networking rapidly gaining popularity

Social networking is the in-thing now and it’s evident from the number of people who access MySpace and Facebook dutifully every day. In fact, people are so much into these sites that they want to be connected all the time. However, you can’t carry a laptop all the time and you can’t go to a browsing center ten times a day to update your status in your Facebook profile and to catch up with your friends. So, what do you do? Simple – you access these sites in your mobile phone.

The practice of accessing social networking sites on mobile phones, called mobile social networking, is becoming more and more popular with mobile users these days. The biggest reason is the iPhone. It literally changed the way people perceived mobile phones and now iPhone users top the chart in mobile internet usage.

According to statistics, more than 85% of iPhone users access the internet from their phones. This is an incredible number, to say the least. Smart phone users come second in this list. People, especially young ones, who have internet facility in their phone, access social networking sites regularly.

A report from Nielson says that 1.7% of all mobile users in the U.K. visited social networking sites on their cell phones regularly. It’s 1.6% in the U.S., 0.8% in Spain, 0.6% in Italy, and 0.2% in Germany. Experts predict that these numbers will more than double in about two years and mobile social networking will become popular big time.

MySpace, followed by Facebook, is the most accessed social networking site on mobile phones. In December 2007 alone, the site had close to 3 million visits from mobile users. In the U.S. and all over Europe, there are tens of thousands of regular mobile users who log into MySpace regularly. We’ve already seen how popular MySpace can be, but still these numbers are incredible.

I think these numbers will have a significant impact on mobile service prices in the coming days. Thanks to this overwhelming popularity of mobile social networking and other similar things, operators might be tempted to cut down the rates for data plans. One example for this would be Vodafone UK. In its latest monthly plans, it has added unlimited internet access as a standard feature. We might as well see other companies follow suit.

Categories: Apple iPhone, All things mobile phones, Mobile Social Networking.

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