According to a recent study, mobile communications devices are now more likely to be used for socializing than just about anything else their owners do with them on the mobile Internet.
The study, published by Ruder Finn (an independent public relations firm) this past February, suggests that smartphone users are accessing the Internet less for instructional purposes and more for social ones. These social activities take on several different forms, most notably instant messaging, forwarding of emails and multimedia videos or pictures, expressing advocacy for a cause and of course, accessing social media sites like Twitter, Facebook or MySpace.
Because mobile users are generally on-the-go, they are often pressed for time and thus more traditional Internet uses, such as research or educational reading, are less likely to be pursued on a mobile device than they are on a desktop. Instead, mobile communications users are more apt to use their devices to stay connected with friends, manage finances, or post opinions on social blogs.
In addition to Ruder Finn’s research, comscore.com has come out with a study that indicates over half of smartphone users access the mobile Internet to visit social networking sites. In fact, (back to Ruder Finn’s study, now) mobile users are more likely (by 12%) to use the Internet for online socializing than traditional users. Perhaps that’s because the research also suggests that 79% of men and 61% of women use their smartphones to take a break from their everyday responsibilities via a bit of online escapism.
For people who have to keep moving, the value of the mobile Internet takes on many different shapes. For now though, the trends point strongly toward entertainment and socializing, a fact that will no doubt drive the decisions of developers, advertisers, and device manufacturers for years to come.
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This brings up the old chicken and egg debate. Which came first, the demand for social networking integration making phone manufacturers take heed and make it easier for you to access your social networking sites, or is it the other way around, it’s because it’s easy to access social networking sites that brought the demand up for socializing? Whichever it is, I am glad that more and more people are getting wirelessly connected!
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