The top social networks. The latest statistics
May 16, 2013More people on the Internet are communicating via social media than ever before, and Facebook is the most popular platform. In the first quarter of 2013, over half the world’s Internet connected population is using Facebook! Using data collated by Global Web Index, Statista has just released a chart of the world’s ten largest social media sites by global market penetration.
51 percent of Internet users were active on Facebook. Google Plus has gradually expanded to 26 percent. A quarter of users regularly visit YouTube to watch videos. Twitter messages are posted by just over a fifth of online users, even if 85% of all tweets are posted by the top 15% of Twitter users.
Contribution to the volume and penetration of these platforms can, in part at least, be attributed to the continuing increase in ownership of handheld devices. The ability to connect and view mobile video via tablets and smartphones while commuting, travelling or ‘second screening‘ has generated an increase in the use of social media. Mobile traffic in 2012 was 12 times higher than the total global Internet traffic of a dozen years earlier, in 2000!
Consequently, as a result of this increased social interaction, patterns of in-store and m.commerce purchasing have changed. All current data indicates that consumers are now persuaded more by the recommendations of friends, family and other users, than by advertising.
Of the top ten platforms, six are in Chinese language. These platforms offer similar functionalities to the English language sites, (some of which are not accessible in mainland China).
Weibo (and Tencent Weibo) comprise 40%, and offer similar posting to Facebook and similar micro-blogging to Twitter. The popular QQ (now owned by Tencent and branded as Tencent QQ, and as such, representing 41% penetration) offers similar micro-blogging to Twitter.
YouKu (12%) offers similar video posting to YouTube, while renren (10%) offers posting similar to Facebook. Many of these sites do not offer English content.
Digital Tsunami has been working with Chinese clients and clients in China since the 90’s. Delivering solutions in branding, eStrategy, mobile, photography, print, video and web to this market, requires an understanding and familiarity with customs and business criteria.
2013 is the Year of Mobile, Social and Video. To maximise the impact of your brand, contact us today.
Sources:
Statista
Global Web Index
Tencent QQ
QQ
renren
Weibo
YouKu
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