BARCELONA, SPAIN - FACEBOOK users spend almost 30 minutes a day on the site poking and messaging their friends on average, with access patterns similar on mobile phones and computers, a British study showed on Monday.

The research tracked access to Facebook by mobile phone subscribers in Britain and found that the social networking phenomenon was the top site for users measured by browsing time.

Users accessing Facebook on their mobile phones spent on average 24 minutes on the site compared with 27.5 minutes daily by computer users, the study found.

Mobile phone users accessed the site on average 3.3 times per day, compared with 2.3 times for computer users, with the most avid mobile fans 18-24 year old males who spent on average 27 minutes on the site.

The study, carried out by mobile phone industry body the GSM Association, aimed to provide insight into the surfing habits of mobile phone users with a view to encouraging advertising.

The most visited sites by mobile users were the portals of the mobile phone network operators, the study found.

'That's probably not surprising because it's generally the homepage set on your mobile,' explained the marketing director for the GSM Association Michael O'Hara.

Google was the most visited off-portal site. -- AFP