Social media continues to rise

13 July 2010

Rapid online growth in Asia Pacific means that now three-quarters of the world’s population are accessing social media websites, according to Nielsen.

The Asia Pacific Social Media Report has found that internet users now spend as much as six hours per month on social media services. According to the report, consumer purchasing decisions have been directly affected as users share information on products and services. Korea was deemed the most positive market and China the most negative, with 62% likely to share a negative review compared with 41% worldwide. 

A breakdown of markets revealed Japanese online users were biggest bloggers making one million posts per month. Micro-blogging service Twitter enjoyed rapid growth in the market from 200,000 to more than 10 million in under a year.

Meanwhile, bulletin boards remain the most popular form of social media activity for 80% of consumers in China with virtual product placement in social media games becoming a profitable source for revenue.

In India global social network leader Facebook still trails local offering Orkut in user preference with 70% preferring the latter. However, Facebook has overtaken Orkut in market share by claiming 50% of all social media users against 38%. Local also dominates in Korea with 95% of the country’s internet population using national website Naver. Business network LinkedIn represents one of the fastest growing services with unique user numbers up 99% in Australia.

Nielsen’s managing director for online business in Asia Pacific, Megan Clarke said: “The findings highlight, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that social media is here to stay and needs to be taken seriously by the broader business community, from the CMO to the CEO.”

Josh Colley, London