MySpace clearly intends to use the mobile as a way to stem Facebook’s growth in Europe. It’s just launched a new localised MySpace Mobile page across all EU countries, http://m.myspace.com. In particular, in the UK it’s worked with Vodafone, launching a customised page on Vodafone live! back in June and now enhancing it to the point where users can update status, see friends’ status and updates and add friends, check mail and post blogs.
It looks like these moves might be working. According to a recent Nielsen Mobile Advertising Report MySpace Mobile is the leading mobile social networking site in Europe, occupying first or second position in four of the five key markets measured.
Visiting social networks on mobile phones is experiencing big growth in Europe, but this is something that will benefit Facebook as well, obviously. Nielsen says out of the UK’s 48 million mobile phone subscribers, 21 million belong to a social networking site. Of this, 21 million, around 25%, used their mobile phone to visit a social networking website each month in the first quarter of this year.