Facebook popularity in India comparison with other countries.

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In present Era, Facebook has become the most popular social media site in India. With more than 31 million active users (as of August 2011), India trails only the United States and Indonesia in global usage. This has surpassed the orkut (social networking site by Google) users, which was the most popular before 2010. Nevertheless, Facebook has conquered the social media networking in India, just as it has in almost all countries now.

As per the latest report by Experian down the curtain, how much time people living in different countries spend on Facebook. Singapore users topped the chart, with US at the 5th position India at the 7th position. Brazil users spent only less than half the average time spent by Singapore. The high average minutes spent on Facebook provides an opportunity for firms to gain greater sales and engagement through content and advertising. The key finding of this study also inferred that India experienced the fastest growth in Facebook use over the past year, with the social network accounting for an increase in market share of 88% year on year (YOY) in August 2011 whereas US  experienced a market share increase from Facebook of 5% YOY.

         Countries           Average time spent on Facebook in August 2011 per session

• Singapore           38 mins 46 sec
• New Zealand      30 mins 31 sec
• Australia             26 mins 27 sec
• UK                    25 mins 33 sec
• US                     20 mins 46 sec
• France               21 mins 53 sec
• India                  20 mins 21 sec
• Brazil                 18 mins 19 sec

At present India is the 3rd most country with 100 million internet users after China (485 million) and US (245 million). As per one of the recent surveys made by Google, the usage of internet in India would be increased triple by 2014. I think by that time India may surpass US in terms of number of internet users. Another interesting factor is that Indian users are not using Facebook during work hours (Penn Olson, 2010). I feel this is one of the reasons, that in spite India being the 2nd most densely populated country in the world, still has less usage of Facebook than US.

Around 350 million of the active users currently are accessing Facebook through their mobile devices around the world. Approximately 3 of 5 smartphone users in US access social networking websites/Facebook whereas in India the mobile phones are used the most to access Facebook. The average cost of smartphones is also high in India than US. Same is the case with iPad’s. Therefore, I believe that increase in use of smartphones and iPad’s in India would also increase the Facebook users and its usage. Also, there is a huge potential for content and advertising markets in India to capture user’s attention and to enhance the marketing through better engagement in social networks. 

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