Philippines global social networking leader

MORE and more Filipinos are surfing the Internet and visiting social networking sites, of which the most popular are Facebook, Twitter, Linkedln, Google+, and Instagram, to nourish relationship and build networks, read news and information, view video, buy products, and transact business. Social networking is online service, platform, or site that builds relations among people who share interests, activities, events, interests, backgrounds, or connections within their individual networks such as Internet, e-mail, and instant messaging.

Internet users in the country are most intensive in Asia-Pacific, according to a study using data from Global/ Web Index, which conducts market research on digital consumer, citing that each Internet user spends an average 6.3 hours per day online through desktop or laptop and 2.8 hours logged to the Internet through a mobile device. A report by search engine Google, citing InternetWorldStats, showed the Philippines is third top Internet user in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia and Vietnam; seventh in Asia and 16th in the world.

The Philippines leads the way for social media use, with each of its 39.4 million Internet users spending 4.3 hours a day on digital social media. In a study, Wave7 reported that Filipinos are using social media 53 hours a week, or 11 hours more than the global average of 42 hours. With social media, they stay in touch with family and friends, meet new people, have fun, share new experiences with friends and followers, and keep company.

Data from Social Media Stats in the Philippines showed Internet penetration up from 36% to 44% this year, and may likely reach 50% by yearend, while social media penetration is up from 32% to 40%. Both Internet and social media penetration increased by 18% in 2014. Top 3 social media platforms of choice by Filipinos are Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. The Facebook population in the country is over 22 million, making it into the top 10 Facebook users worldwide.

In its “State of the Mobile Web Report,” browser software Opera Mini said the Philippines is the most active country on social media, noting that the country used to be text-messaging capital of the world, but with Internet access and higher smartphone adoption, it is not only the “selfie capital of the world” by Time Magazine, but is also ranked as the “most social nation.”

Social networking sites accounted for 86% of page views from Opera Mini’s mobile browser users in the Philippines, the highest percentage among its top-50 user countries worldwide, the report said. The growing social media activity in the country is attributed to popularity of smartphones, as half of Filipino mobile Web users smartphones in surfing the Internet. “Smartphone adoption rate in the country has grown from 41% to 55% over the past year,” It said.