93% smartphone users in India access social media via handsets; Is mobile Internet getting a boost

After the botched-up Facebook IPO, many have lashed out at social networking as a 'fad'. But the majority of smartphone users don't seem to think so, at least not in India. It is one of the most favoured activities of the smartphone users in this country and currently, social networking properties (apps/sites) are the most accessed, second only to 'search'.

Surprisingly, almost 93 per cent of the smartphone users in the country access social networking sites via their mobile handsets (and here we were thinking that mobile Internet penetration is not healthy), according to a report by Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights. And the most visited site is Facebook, of course. Facebook's reach is over five times higher than its nearest competitor Google+, with Twitter following a close third.

The most preferred mode to access Facebook is through the FB app, mainly because it can be easily integrated with other phone functions (like instant photo sharing, updates, etc.). In April 2012, users had accessed the Facebook app on 17 days out of the total 30 and the average time spent daily on the app (on these days) was 12 minutes per user. Although a considerable number of users accessed the app throughout the day, the engagement levels peaked at night (a user spent around 5 minutes on Facebook at night, compared to spending just 2 minutes in the morning).

Interestingly, one in three Facebook users did not use any other social networking property via his/her smartphone.

According to the report, the rapid growth of social media and adoption of smartphones have positively impacted the rise of social networking on mobile phones. Also, the fact that social networking apps offer seamless integration with other phone functions has only added to the trigger.

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