Social is mobile, mobile is young

Social happens mostly on mobile. This may be an old adage, but where is the proof? Facebook shelling out top dollars to acquire Instagram; LinkedIn acquiring Pulse. These are all indications that social network titans are working hard to remain relevant on mobile platform. If the users are on mobile, they need to be there to engage with users.

Mobile users are relatively younger as well. You know LinkedIn recently lower age limit from 18 to 13? Grabbing users early on and engage them are the surest way to keep them. If they are on mobile, you need to be there!

However, the Q3 report from facebook painted an accurate data point. 48% or nearly half of daily users of facebooks are now mobile only! The keyword is mobile ONLY. It means advertising opportunity is mobile ONLY.

Advertisement works well on computer browsers where you have lots of real estate to work with. You can show both content and relevant advertisement at the same time. However, this is not true on mobile. If you are facebook, and you see your user base moving to mobile only. The critical thing is to fine-tune the mobile advertising experience on mobile as well. Otherwise, the share of time you have to advertise diminish on computer browsers.

As a consumer, I am more annoyed by advertisement on my mobile device than on computer. On limited screen size, any ads significantly impair my ability to get things done. This is something that companies need to carefully balance out. However, captivated audience is better than no audience. Monetization by mobile advertising will be bumpy for everyone involved.

Inspiration:
http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/30/nearly-half-48-of-daily-users-of-facebook-are-now-mobile-only-says-ceo-zuckerberg/