Social networking sites are catching on worldwide, even as the growth in new users in North America is beginning to taper off. The Asia Pacific region posted 23% rise in unique visitors to online social networks over the past year, compared to 9% increase in US and worldwide growth of 25%, according to a study conducted by comScore, a US-based firm that measures digital growth.
| Social Networking Growth by Worldwide Region June 2008 vs. June 2007 Total Worldwide Audience, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations Source: comScore World Metrix |
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Unique Visitors (000)
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Jun-07
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Jun-08
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Percent Change
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Worldwide
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464,437
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580,510 |
25%
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Asia Pacific |
162,738
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200,555
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23%
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Europe
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122,527
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165,256
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35% |
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North America
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120,848 |
131,255
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9%
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Latin America
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40,098
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53,248
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33%
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Middle East - Africa
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18,226
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30,197 |
66%
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During the same period, Facebook had secured 153% increase in unique visitors to overthrow MySpace as the world’s leading social network. This was achieved through its commitment to become more culturally relevant in markets by introducing natural language interfaces in several markets. Facebook audience in Japan more than tripled after launching the Japanese language version, gaining 213% to 538,000 unique visitors.
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Selected Social Networking Sites* Total Unique Visitors (000) Jun-2007 Jun-2008 % Change Total Internet 53,716 56,220 5 MIXI.JP 12,367 12,738 3 MYSPACE.COM 1,137 1,245 10 Orkut N/A 638 N/A FACEBOOK.COM 172 538 213 Gree 531 455 -14 *Selected social networking sites based on comScore’s Social Networking category. Many of the top social networks have also embarked on full-scale localization strategies that have helped the rapid growth in their global user bases, in particular Hi5 (Latin America), Friendster (Asia) and Orkut. Monthly unique visitors on the Hi5 social networking service grew 79% from 31 million to over 56 million in the first half of this year, making it the fastest-growing major social network in the world. Worldwide Growth Among Selected Social Networking Sites Total Unique Visitors (000) Jun-2007 Jun-2008 % Change Total Internet : Total 778,310 860,514 11% Social Networking 464,437 580,510 25% FACEBOOK.COM 52,167 132,105 153% MYSPACE.COM 114,147 117,582 3% HI5.COM 28,174 56,367 100% FRIENDSTER.COM 24,675 37,080 50% Orkut 24,120 34,028 41% BEBO.COM 18,200 24,017 32% Skyrock Network 17,638 21,041 19% Though Facebook’s largest visitor base is still in the US (49 million), its audience has more than quadrupled in every other worldwide region. Asia Pacific added 16.5 million monthly visitors versus a year ago and has grown 458% with almost 21 million visitors in June 2008.
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