Facebook has revealed the results of a report which show that four of every five regular users in the UK log on to the site each day using either a tablet computer or  a smartphone.

More than 30 per cent of consumers in the UK use Facebook on a daily basis, and of these, 20 million – representing 83 per cent – choose to shun conventional desktop machines and instead use handheld devices.

The data was released by the Californian company on Wednesday last week, in what is thought to be a response to a report suggesting the site’s growth had reached the point of saturation.

This is the first time that Facebook has provided data on how many daily users it has in the UK. The social network didn’t, however, release any updated monthly figures.

Speaking about the reports, the firm’s regional director for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, James Quarles, said:

“It’s to make clear our audience is growing both in size and engagement.

“[There is a] massive shift to mobile. People start the day with Facebook and especially in the UK, which is a very big mobile market, there is a very high percentage of people signing in on smartphones.”

The news will be of particular interest to firms in the UK using the social media platform to reach consumers. The publishing of sharable content is key to the success of such strategies, but seeing that most people are tapping these links instead of clicking on them, business owners should be sure that this content is optimised for smaller screens.

It’s also important to note that the mobile shift isn’t just linked to social media use. As we reported recently at Pressroom, conventional PC sales in general have been declining for quite some time.

Graeme Parton

Graeme has experience creating content for online sources and for the radio, and at university he studied Multimedia Journalism.