| JULY 10, 2007 And social networking is biggest in... South Korea! About a fifth of adults have visited a social networking Web site, and an equal percentage of Internet users have done so in the past 30 days, according to a survey of several countries by Ipsos Insight. "The Face of the Web 2006" survey was conducted in November and December 2006 in urban Brazil, Canada, urban China, France, Germany, urban India, Japan, urban Mexico, urban Russia, South Korea, the UK and the US. Social networking was most popular in South Korea, with half of all adults there having visited at least one of these sites in the past, and over half having done so in the previous 30 days. The popularity of social networking in South Korea is driven by Cyworld. Three out of every 10 South Koreans have a Cyworld account. In comparison, roughly a quarter of Americans have ever visited a social networking Web site.
In most of the countries surveyed, at least two-thirds of all Internet users that had visited social networking sites had done so within the past 30 days. A study by the UK Office of Communications with Synovate covered social networking use among broadband users in China and Japan, and European and US markets. Among adult Chinese broadband users, 80% had discussed hobbies or interests online via a social network, and 78% had used a social network to meet new people. Less than half of users in most other markets surveyed said they had used a social network for either of those purposes.
eMarketer Senior Analyst Debra Aho Williamson says, "The year 2007 will determine whether a global social network strategy will make sense, or whether homegrown sites will win out. Two entities — MySpace and Windows Live Spaces — generate the lion's share of global visitors to social networking sites. But social networking is ramping up in a variety of markets." Link to eMarketer Article |
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Social Networking Around the World
Friday, July 6, 2007
Ipsos: Social Networking Becoming Dominant Web Activity Worldwide
While the U.S. leads all other countries in online video use, social networking is most popular in
The popularity of social networking worldwide, as reflected in the study, underlines the reasoning for recent global expansions undertaken by such sites as YouTube and MySpace.
While 20% of regular Internet users worldwide had visited a social networking site in the previous 30 days, the figure was 55% in
Social networking's popularity in
Ipsos said that at least two-thirds of all Internet users worldwide who have ever visited social networking sites had done so in the past 30 days, showing that they have generated a captive audience "even among lesser developed markets," according to Brian Cruikshank, executive vice president and managing director of Ipsos' Technology & Communications practice. Cruikshank said the numbers are particularly significant "when one considers the various ways for users to interact with others using these sites, such as online chat, text messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, and so on."
The research firm also found online video to be increasing worldwide, although not as widely as social networking. The growth, Ipsos found, is most pronounced in developed markets. "Where homes are saturated with televisions and DVD players, video content is a predominant part of consumers' daily lives," said Cruikshank, and "the PC will begin to really assert itself as a 'second screen' within the household."
In the U.S., Ipsos reported, over one-third (36%) of recent Internet users responding to its survey have watched a TV show or other video stream online, up from 28% a year earlier, and three-quarters of them had done so in the previous 30 days. Worldwide, the figure was 34%, up from 31% a year earlier.
While online video use continues to rise, Ipsos found that online music, the previous digital lifestyle driver, has stopped growing. According to the study, 51% of Internet users worldwide played streaming music or radio, down from 52% a year earlier; 43% downloaded a music file, down from 44%, and 41% burned or copied music onto CDs, unchanged.
Ipsos Insights surveyed 6,553 adults in November and December, 2006, in urban Brazil, Canada, urban China, France, Germany, urban India, Japan, urban Mexico, urban Russia, South Korea, the U.K. and the U.S.