Social networkers heavy consumers of content

Online social networkers consume about twice as much mobile content as their non-networked peers

Social network users are much heavier consumers of digital content including SMS, mobile email, photos, music, games and mobile TV than mobile phone service subscribers.

The revelation comes from recent research published by industry analyst ABI Research which canvassed 1,000 mobile subscribers and just over 500 social network mobile subscribers in the US.

Three quarters of the latter group were aged between 18 and 30, and were twice as likely to own a smartphone as their non-networked equivalents.

"The fact that online social networkers consume more mobile content and media than mobile subscribers who are not into online networking may not be really surprising," said principal analyst Nick Holland.

"However, what we have long suspected is confirmed by the numbers: for most kinds of mobile content, online social networkers consume about twice as much as their non-networked peers."

The driving force behind online social networkers' consumption of mobile media is that they are on average younger and more tech-savvy.

Also, many social networks are organised around a specific media-related interest such as photography or music.

"Advertising on social networks is not working particularly well, so promotion of mobile content on online social network sites should be a high priority for mobile operators, content distributors, media companies and advertisers," said Holland.