In this paper we present and evaluate ContentPlace, a data dissemination system for opportunistic networks, i.e., mobile networks in which stable simultaneous multi-hop paths between communication endpoints cannot be provided. We consider a scenario in which users both produce and consume data objects. ContentPlace takes care of moving and replicating data objects in the network such that interested users receive them despite possible long disconnections, partitions, etc. Thanks to ContentPlace, data producers and consumers are completely decoupled, and might be never connected to the network at the same point in time. The key feature of ContentPlace is learning and exploiting information about the social behaviour of the users to drive the data dissemination process. This allows ContentPlace to be more efficient both in terms of data delivery and in terms of resource usage with respect to reference alternative solutions. The performance of ContentPlace is thoroughly investigated both through simulation and analytical models. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.