Facebook Mobile has reported a 50% growth rate since April, growing from 100 million to 150 million users. The extreme expansion means Facebook has no choice but to pour more resources into its smartphone apps, growing and maintaining its mobile user base. It’s yet another signal of social media’s growing influence, as the two trends rise hand-in-hand.

At MobileBeat 2010, Facebook noted its rapid growth and its plans for becoming a mobile platform distribution tool. This is in anticipation of global growth in areas where people will access the web primarily through their mobile devices. Social networks like Facebook and MySpace have been anticipating this kind of permeation for years now, and it’s finally reaching the point of realization.

Facebook’s got experience distributing apps

Facebook’s had plenty of practice with distributing apps, having launched a platform for its web-based network a few years back. The flux of apps developed primarily for Facebook has ebbed and flowed, been tweaked and tortured, and is still seeking the best ways in which to interact with end users for marketing and monetization.

The mobile frontier is a major factor in the marketing and monetization of apps run through Facebook–it’s a feature users and developers have been pining for since the iPhone first launched. Linking mobile apps with the web presence made its first appearance with the partnership between Facebook and Apple just over a year ago. The potential behind social mobile apps became even more evident with Zynga launching its iPhone iOS 4 app earlier this summer.

Reaching the head of the curve

Always looking to stay one step ahead of the curve, Facebook has staked a claim in the mobile platform territory, which will only grow larger through Facebook’s dedicated involvement. Social networks like hi5 getting pretty good at offering niche platforms for web-based apps, while Google already has a mobile platform and marketplace, with web-based and mobile apps (though less social than Facebook). Developers like Zynga are also looking beyond Facebook for global growth opportunities, specifically to Japan.

This means Facebook will have to build out better search and recommendation tools for sorting through apps, with design considerations specific to mobile users. For the most seamless experience possible, Facebook will also have to develop out its relationships with mobile platforms iOS and Android, as it’s already started at with contact syncs and other default options pre-installed on many smartphones.

Growth and opportunities

In staying ahead on these trends, Facebook will be able to also establish itself as the central hub and provider of consumer information used by mobile apps. Depending on how much Facebook wants to control this inter-app activity, their use of Facebook’s mobile platform will enable many apps to work together seamlessly as well. Facebook’s Credits system is likely to be its most powerful centralizing tool in this regard, with developers like Crowdstar already signing on for long-term deals.

The business opportunities lie in app search and recommendation, with other platform-agnostic tools for marketing around Facebook’s mobile app distribution channels. We witnessed a similar approach for early monetizers of Facebook web apps, and the mobile user base will demand even more concise and immediate use of Facebook’s network.