Tag: qzone

International Social Media Trends

I  started wonderinGlobal Social Mediag how social media trends and usage differs by country. Based on Facebook’s fact sheet, international users make up a big chunk of the market. Over 80% of users are outside the U.S. and Canada (WOW!), 676 million active monthly users to be exact. That is a lot of users/followers that can make a big impact on an international social media campaign.

So, if your company is already in the international market, or thinking of expanding here is some info that might come in handy when devising your strategy:

Top social media platforms by age group

A few of the top platforms for social media users 18 and under are (globally):

  • Formspring
  • Skyrock
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Dailymotion
  • Fanpop
  • Kaizin001
  • SchulerVZ

A few of the top platforms for social media 18 – 30 are (globally):

  • MeinVZ
  • Badoo
  • Facebook
  • Netlog
  • Flickr
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • StudiVZ
  • Twitter
  • Tuenti
  • The Student Room
  • DevianArt

The top 5 social media sites globally are:

  1. YouTube
  2. Facebook
  3. Qzone
  4. Twitter
  5. Pengyou

The top 5 countries with the highest percent of population online are:

  1. Sweden
  2. Denmark
  3. UK
  4. Germany
  5. Canada

Interesting: The United States isn’t in the top five, it is actually #8 with 78% of the US population online. Check out how all countries rank: (http://www.internetworldstats.com/)

It is also interesting how social media uses differ by country; for example, blogging is the most popular form of social media in France, while chatting and social networks are most popular in the UK.

The importance of the topic of the social media platform differs by country, as well. A platform called DeviantArt, which showcases user generated art, is very popular in Australia. Qzone is a Chinese Global Social Networkbased social media platform that is nickname based. Qzone users are not required to use their real names (which is required by Facebook). Amino.dk is a business focused platform for entrepreneurs and the self-employed; it is  popular with the online community in Denmark. An online advice site, Gutefrage.net, and a professional networking site, Zing, are both very popular in Germany. In Japan, a platform called 2-Channel is even more popular than Facebook, it allows users to post anonymously and does not require registration.

Thoughts:

Based on the different country trends, it is clear that it is very important that research into a target market’s use of social media is critical, as well as thinking outside of our normal Twitter/Facebook/YouTube bubble. While Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are very popular in other countries, the other country specific big-players should be taken into account, as well.

If you are interested in more stats on the international social media trends, check out this great SlideShow

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image: FrameAngel / FreeDigitalPhotos.net