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Social networking on mobile devices is set for explosive growth, but established Web 2.0 sites aren't capitalizing on this opportunity, experts say.

There's huge potential in this emerging market that isn't being tapped, they say.

The likes of Facebook Mobile and MySpace Mobile are not developing better user interfaces that take advantage of the unique capabilities of mobile devices, says Tim Hickernell, senior analyst for Info-Tech Research Group, in London, Ont.

He said these providers are content to deliver to cell phone users mere copies of the services they offer computer-based users.

"Established social networking sites are still offering the same tired old services such as photo uploading and status updating when they could be exploiting the unique character of mobile connectivity,"

From a technology standpoint, cell phone manufacturers can support collaboration and other capabilities by equipping mobile devices with technologies such as Bluetooth and global positioning systems (GPS).

This, Hickernell said, would provide a range of business opportunities to companies that what to target heavy cell phone users.

Some 800 million people worldwide will be using the mobile phones to connect to social networks 2012, according to a recent report from eMarketer Inc. an Internet market research firm.

That figure will represent nearly 20 per cent of all mobile phone users.

Service providers in Europe, Asia and the Middle East were pioneers in offering mobile social networking, but only a handful of start-up firms are exploiting the phenomena in North American, Hickernell notes.

One such firm is MocoSpace, a Boston-based firm founded in 2005 by long-time buddies and serial mobile entrepreneurs Justin Siegel and Jamie Hall.

The company, which has 25 employees and two offices – in Boston and Herzeliya, Israel – recently announced its mobile users have just passed the two-million mark and that it has generated more than 1.5 billion page views for the month of May.

This is slightly larger than the 1.4 billion pageviews of MySpace Mobile for the previous month. MocoSpace's traffic has grown more than 50 per cent compared to just five months ago.

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