Data released by comScore has shown that Facebook is now the leading social network in Brazil, with a staggering 192% increase in the number of visitors in the past year. Brazil is the fifth biggest user of social networks globally, yet [...]]]> Data released by comScore has shown that Facebook is now the leading social network in Brazil, with a staggering 192% increase in the number of visitors in the past year. Brazil is the fifth biggest user of social networks globally, yet Facebook has until now struggled to compete with the popularity of Google owned Orkut, which had a strong presence in the South American country.

The figures are quite astonishing. In December 2010, Facebook had 12 million Brazilian users, compared to 32 million for Orkut, yet 12 months later Facebook has reached 36 million users, while Orkut only grew to 34 million. As well as increasing visitor numbers, user engagement on the site has also increased, with more time being spent on the site and more pages being accessed on each visit.

The comScore data doesn’t take into account visits from public computers and mobile devices so the exact numbers may be slightly different, and the growth rate of 5% for Orkut shows that it is far from finished in Brazil. However, this is a major win for Facebook, which is now the leading social network in all but 6 countries around the world.

Japan, China, Russia, South Korea, Vietnam and Poland still favour local social networks to the global leader. In a session at the upcoming International Search Summit @ SMX West, Michael Bonfils will lead a session on these major markets and provide insights into their leading networks, including Qzone, Vkontake and Cyworld.

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I have written before about how Bryan Eisenberg introduced me to his tools site and how there were several tools that stuck out as “must try now” tools. Among them was a tool based on the data from a Wordpress [...]]]> I have written before about how Bryan Eisenberg introduced me to his tools site and how there were several tools that stuck out as “must try now” tools. Among them was a tool based on the data from a Wordpress plugin called AddThis.

When reviewing the data it got me thinking that there was another dimension to it, especially when we look at how users across various nations and countries share the content they read.

When companies go global, and are targeting various markets, they tend to fall into the trap of generalizing their approach. By that they might be taking something that works in the U.S. or UK and applying it to Germany, Russia and China, to mention a few.

Why is this important? Well let me illustrate: If you are running a content rich site that you want the user to share with others, it is important to understand that not all sharing options are equal in all countries. If you are choosing the four most used in the U.S. you might opt for targeting Facebook, Twitter, Print and Email.

However, despite the fact that the U.S. is one of the leading online nations in the world, the rest of the world use various other channels, as well as the aforementioned.

Here are few random samples:
Russia has Vkontakte, Twitter, Facebook and Mail.ru
Saudi Arabia has Facebook, Facebook Like, Google and Google
The Netherlands has Facebook, Twitter, Print and Hyves
Brazil has Facebook, Facebook Like, Orkut and Twitter
India has Facebook, Email, Twitter and Google
Switzerland has Facebook, Ping.FM, Print and Twitter
China has Twitter, StumbleUpon, Facebook and Favorites

So while you might be safe with Facebook in most countries, it is important to understand that there are other channels unique to each country you are targeting. This is vital in order expand your content’s reach to local users.

Bottom-Line: Don’t generalize, localize!

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Social Media has now reached 96% penetration in The Netherlands, with global sites Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all growing rapidly in the country. It is still one of the few markets where a local social network is the most popular [...]]]> Social Media has now reached 96% penetration in The Netherlands, with global sites Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all growing rapidly in the country. It is still one of the few markets where a local social network is the most popular and Dutch site Hyves is still hanging on to its lead over Facebook.  However Facebook has seen a huge 76% growth in the past year, indicating that this lead may not last for much longer.

LinkedIn and Twitter have also seen significant growth (70% and 67% respectively) and The Netherlands tops the table for the highest penetration rates for both sites, globally.

English-speaking markets dominate  for LinkedIn with Ireland, the US, Canada and the UK making up the rest of the top 5, compared with Twitter which spans a range of continents and languages. Japan, Brazil, Indonesia and Venezuela all follow the Netherlands, with Turkey, Argentina and Singapore also making the top 10.

For more details visit comscore.com

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Kakao Talk, a Korean Mobile Messaging App, is to launch an aggressive international campaign to grow its subscriber base and compete with global giants Facebook and Twitter. The free messaging service, which currently has 9 million subscribers in South Korea, [...]]]> Kakao Talk, a Korean Mobile Messaging App, is to launch an aggressive international campaign to grow its subscriber base and compete with global giants Facebook and Twitter. The free messaging service, which currently has 9 million subscribers in South Korea, and a further 1 million around the world, is compatible  with Apple and Android Operating Systems and is currently used in 216 countries.

The app enables users to send text messages, as well as links, files and photos and is currently  available in Korean, English and Japanese. Kakao plans to set up offices in the US and Japan by the end of the year and  believes its success in markets such as the Middle East, where the app isn’t available in local languages, demonstrates the opportunities of going global in a mobile age.

Kakao Founder Kim Beom-su  is confident that the app can provide real competition for Facebook and Twitter, although he admits it may seem like a David and Goliath fight.

It certainly does seem an impressive goal, given the global dominance of Facebook in particular, but as the mobile web continues to grow, there may be  room in the mobile space for some alternatives.

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Google has once again implemented a new search criteria, adding social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to SERPs.

The updated  functionality will be rolled across the English language [...]]]> Google has once again implemented a new search criteria, adding social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to SERPs.

The updated  functionality will be rolled across the English language search engines when a user is logged in his or her Google mail account.
This is not a new feature for Google Search but an update of what was developed in 2009. Back then, social networks links only appeared at the bottom of the SERP but they will from now on be included in the organic result according to their relevancy.

So what are those key social networks to start having a proper link marketing strategy with?

• Twitter
• Facebook
• FriendFeed
• LinkedIn
• Websites linked in user’s Google Profile
• Contacts list in Gmail
• Google Buzz
• etc

Google explained in its blog that ”natural search results are not just about factual information but also about relationships, so if a search result is relevant to your social connections, we’ll bump up that post with a note and a picture. We’ve written algorithms designed to surface social results when relevant to your search.”

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According to Internet World Stats there are close to 2 billion Internet users worldwide. According to same source there are around 520 million Facebook users or 7.6% of the total Internet population.

Europe has the most Facebook users or just above [...]]]> According to Internet World Stats there are close to 2 billion Internet users worldwide. According to same source there are around 520 million Facebook users or 7.6% of the total Internet population.

Europe has the most Facebook users or just above 162 million, North America comes next with around 150 million. Asia comes number three with some 93 million users, Latin America has 68 million or there about, Africa has 17 million, Oceania/The Caribbean (Australia) has also 15.6 and finally and the Middle-East have close to 11.7 million.

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Facebook is now the most popular social network in India, having overtaken Orkut for the first time ever. The latest comScore figures show that Facebook has grown by 179% in the past year, and boasted 20.9 million visitors in [...]]]> Facebook is now the most popular social network in India, having overtaken Orkut for the first time ever. The latest comScore figures show that Facebook has grown by 179% in the past year, and boasted 20.9 million visitors in July. Orkut, Google’s own social network, has until now held the top spot in the country, however only saw its users increase by 16% since July 2009.

India is now the seventh largest social networking market in the world, with almost 85% of the Indian internet population now accessing social networks.

However Twitter saw the highest growth rate of any social network in India, as it continues to establish a strong presence in all global regions.

In an interview earlier in the year, Gillian Muessig of SEOmoz said that “the Indian search market is exactly like the US in 1999 – a wide open playing field”. However, if it continues to develop at its current rate, that won’t be the case for much longer. The opportunities to enter this market and establish a presence are huge – but organisations need to act now to ensure they aren’t left behind.

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In the Netherlands the biggest social network is not Facebook, but Hyves. And its our luck that the people at Hyves like numbers. On a regular basis they are publishing new numbers, usually showing us their [...]]]> In the Netherlands the biggest social network is not Facebook, but Hyves. And its our luck that the people at Hyves like numbers. On a regular basis they are publishing new numbers, usually showing us their growth. They always try to be as ‘honest’ as possible with these numbers, and therefore using numbers from for example Comscore.

The last update shows some interesting numbers. With 7946000 uniques in May 2010 Hyves still is the biggest social network in The Netherlands. But Facebook seems to be closing in on the Dutch giants. Where Hyves saw a growth of 1,64% Facebook grew 2,83% to 4658000 uniques in May. This however doesn’t make Facebook the fastest growing social network in the low countries. Twitter sees the fastest increase (almost 15%) followed by Windows Live, YouTube and then Facebook. The immense growth of Twitter can be triggered by the use of Twitter in the Dutch elections which were early June. The campaign was all through the month of May.

Time spent

Looking at the times spent on social networks Hyves however has the most loyal visitors so it seems. No less than 2060 million minutes were spent on Hyves in May. Facebook (261 million) and Twitter (40 million) have a lot less time spent.

There are many more numbers which Comscore has given out on the Dutch social networking market. Find them here. In general we can say that social networking in the Netherlands is growing steady. But looking at the numbers we should keep in mind that its definitely not ‘just’ Hyves or not ‘just’ Twitter and Facebook we should be focussing on.

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Pakistan has become the latest country to censor internet access following so called sacrilegious content being posted on Facebook and YouTube.  A Facebook competition which invited users to post drawings and images representing the prophet Mohammed has sparked [...]]]> Pakistan has become the latest country to censor internet access following so called sacrilegious content being posted on Facebook and YouTube.  A Facebook competition which invited users to post drawings and images representing the prophet Mohammed has sparked outrage amongst Muslims who find the content offensive and blasphemous. YouTube was blocked a day after Facebook when it was found that similar content  was being posted on the video-sharing site.

The censorship has angered many internet users in the country, where there are 2.5 million Facebook members, but was enforced amid fears that the images would lead to street violence.

Despite the outrage at the outright ban on the sites, there have been parallels drawn between the blocking of content relating to the Holocaust and Nazism in certain Western countries and censoring this content, which offends followers of Islam.

The Pakistani government is planning to review the decision at the end of the month.

More on this story

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