In the new study by Juniper Research, the mobile social networking will propel the growth of user-generated content (UGC) revenues. As the total UGC revenue is projected to increase from $572 million this year to $5.7 billion by 2012, about half of that will be coming from social networking.

Moreover, membership of social networking sites is projected to grow from 14 million this year to about 600 million by 2012. On the other hand, revenue share of chatroom services and mobile dating will decline from 57% to 21%

"Even though social networking sites are in their infancy, the exponential growth experienced by a number of mobile service providers - in some cases achieved primarily through viral marketing - would seem to affirm that there is huge potential in this area. The key challenge now is for those providers to monetise that interest," said report author Dr Windsor Holden, in a press release.

There are early indicators justifying this trend. Recently, big brands are moving to social networking such as Coca Cola's Sprite Yard. Additionally, the acquisition of social media site Twango by Nokia signals the direction of mobile operators to compete in this fast growing segment.