Articles

29.12.2010 Social networks going global

Social networking penetration remains highest in markets like the US and UK, but sites such as Facebook and Twitter are also proving popular in nations from Brazil to Poland. The Pew Research Center surveyed 24,790 people living in 22 countries to gauge current behaviour in this area. It found 46% of the potential US audience belong to at least one social network, while 36% have opted against joining these properties and 18% do not regularly surf the internet or send email. In Poland, 43% of interviewees commonly accessed social media, 15% directed their online attention elsewhere, and 41% did not have a web connection. Totals stood at 43%, 41% and 16% in turn for the UK, the leading European representative. In South Korea, one of Asia's most mature digital markets, 40% of the possible user base had signed up to date, with Cyworld the pre-eminent social offering at present.

France somewhat bucked the wider trend, as 36% of netizens frequently logged on to platforms like MySpace and LinkedIn, measured against 42% yet to adopt parallel habits. Uptake hit 34% in Spain, where 36% of the panel were uninterested in this emerging channel. This gap peaked in Japan, given 44% of consumers avoided social networks, an amount 20% larger than those using sites including Mixi. Germany saw an 18% difference between these figures, as 49% of the local sample were non-users of the available services.

B.L. 29.12.2010