ComScore recently released the results of a study on online social networking showing millions of people worldwide are regularly visiting and actively engaging in online social networks. Based on recent and past studies that document it's steady growth, one can conclude that:
- social networking is not a fad - it's here to stay,
- it's revolutionizing the way people and businesses connect and communicate, and
- connecting online is no longer "optional" for the expat looking to build a strong professional and business network.
The report indicated that while social networking audiences in North America have grown 9 percent, other areas of the world are growing at a much larger rate - the Middle East-Africa region is up 66 percent, Europe is up 35 percent and Latin America is up 33 percent.
The numbers indicate that Facebook is now the global leader in social networking. As a result of a worldwide campaign, it now provides multiple language interfaces which have helped it's growth globally - quadrupling its audience outside of the US over the past year. It is projected that Facebook will have over 200 million members by 2009.
A recent blog post on Tech Crunch featured a map showing Facebook's rate of growth in different regions in the world - it's amazing how much it has grown in such a short time. And with over 14.6 million users over the age of 35 (and that number growing), no one can argue that Facebook is just a playground for college kids anymore.
The ComScore study also indicates that Hi5 is following close behind Facebook in its rate of growth, having doubled it's visitor base to 56 million. Other high growth sites include Friendster (up 50%), Orkut (up 41%), and Bebo (up 32%).
But with so many social networks out there, how does one choose?
A recent post on pingdom may provide some answers. It reported on social networking popularity by country, according to research done with Google Insights. Although a network's popularity does not necessary reflect actual traffic, this information could make choosing which social networks might be best for you, based on your geographical area of interest, a bit easier.
What's great about this study is that for 12 social networks they came up with the top 5 countries that have reported the highest level of interest online. You can see from the results that Twitter, Xanga, Imeem and Friendster are most popular in Asia while Hi5 and Orkut are most popular in Latin America. Although Linkedin is very popular in India and Singapore, the preponderance of interest lies in Europe and the US.
A study last year by ComScore reported on the fact that certain networks tend to be more popular in certain regions. Although it's been a year since this study was conducted, the results would surely provide some insight into which social networks would be best for you, given where you are looking to build your network. The 2007 study reported:
- 62% of Bebo users are in Europe, with over 21% in North America
- Most of Orkut's users are divided between Latin America (48%) and the Asia-Pacific (43%).
- Hi5's users are more evenly distributed across regions (Europe - 31%, Latin America - 24%, Asia Pacific - 20% and North America - 15%)
Another study done in 2007 and reported on in LeMonde breaks down interests in social neworking sites by continent. The results echo ComScore's 2007 study:
- North America has a quarter of the new social networking accounts which are primarily on Facebook and MySpace
- In Africa and the Middle East, Facebook has the strongest presence
- Latin America's strongest network is Orkut
- Cyworld and Orkut are quite strong in the Asia-Pacific
- Bebo is the strongest network in Europe
With literally hundreds of social networks, making a choice about which are the right ones can be overwhelming - but it does not have to be. If you are clear about what your professional or business and networking goals are, with a little research you are sure to find some networks that will have you connecting with the right people in no time.
YOUR EXPAT SUCCESS TIP: With your professional and networking goals top of mind, investigate some of the studies mentioned here to see which networks are most popular in your area of geographical interest. Choose 1 or 2 networks to start with that match your personal, professional and geographical interests. If you are not active on LinkedIn or Facebook (connect with me at Facebook here) already, be sure to try at least one of those networks. Give yourself one month with each network and see what happens. Then REPORT BACK here and let us know how it went for you!
YOUR THOUGHTS? Have you had any positive or negative experiences with any of the online social networks mentioned here? If so, please share so others may learn from your experience!
If you've found this post of value, feel free to give it a digg (below) so that others might become aware of it. Many thanks!
I think it's pretty amazing how fast the social networks are growing. Even something like Hi5 which is almost totally off the U.S.'s radar is making big gains. Really, I think finding a social network is also dependent on what you want to do with it. LinkedIn is still the only one that I really know about that is locked in on the business community. The others are still more in the entertainment and socializing area.
Posted by: JimAtJaxtr | September 2008 at 05:28
Thanks for the comments Jim.
The funny thing is that the lines between personal and professional are really blurring. We meet people on social networks and take the relationship off the network and into another forum if there are common business interests. Strong connections can be built with those with common personal interests...I myself have moved online personal relationships to the business realm.
Facebook is just an example of how business will capitalize on the critical mass of people and access to large targeted populations with particular preferences.
It will be interesting to see how things evolve. But for sure it's happening quickly...
Posted by: Megan Fitzgerald] | September 2008 at 06:05
You definitely have a point about blurring lines. I don't think that the big social networks, though, will be where business happens in the future. My money is more with things like Ning. Maybe a lot of business connections will get made in FB in the future, but something like Ning will become kind of the perpetual business mixer for any and all kinds of topics. Consider this Ning site for social media people: http://socialnewscentral.ning.com/. But as you said, it'll be fun to see how it turns out. =)
Posted by: JimAtJaxtr | September 2008 at 01:11