Facebook mobile grows to 100 million users

Social networking giant reaching mobile users through apps, mobile optimized sites and SMS

As if almost 400 million desktop users wasn't quite enough, Facebook announced on Wednesday its mobile version, also known as Facebook Mobile, now reaches 100 million users.  

Less than six months ago, the social networking giant announced it had 65 million users accessing Facebook mobile.  The company said in a blog post, "This usage happens on almost every carrier in the world."

In terms of accessing Facebook on my iPhone, I'm used to the Facebook App which works quite well, allowing me to pretty much do everything I do on Facebook from the palm of my hand.  But beyond applications which Facebook has available for the Android, Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia and Samsung, Facebook is also available as an optimized mobile Website.  

This is a great strategy for Facebook in that it gives access to its site those people that don't have phones compatible with its applications.  Check out m.facebook.com and touch.facebook.com, on your phone, to see the redesigns of the site.  Facebook commented, "With the explosion of smart phones, we want to make sure people have a great Facebook experience that scales with their device especially as people have begun to upgrade their devices more frequently."

Also, Facebook reaches mobile users through SMS text messages.  The company said more than 80 operators in 32 countries are enabling its millions of users to access Facebook using SMS.  The company also launched a URL shortening service enabling those with text message character limitations to get their links across either way.  

So Facebook has indeed done a lot of work to get people to adopt and access its service when on the go.  Pretty much, 25% of its worldwide user base are updating and checking their profiles while away from their computers.