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Top 10 Insights about Global Social Network Trends


ComScore released the results of a recent global market study in a report entitled "Top 10 Need-to-Knows About Social Networking and Where It’s Headed." The goal of this report is to frame the current state of social networks through the lens of how users around the world have grown to use them over time.

This report addresses questions such as:
  • How extensive is consumer usage of social networking and how does it vary by country?
  • What is the current rate of social networking adoption in different parts of the world?
  • Which sites are driving this adoption in different markets?
  • How are these consumer usage dynamics changing over time?
  • Where do these trends appear to be headed in the future?

The report includes a summary of the current state of social networking activity -- as measured via passively observed digital consumer behavior -- providing background research and analysis on this topic. The top ten insights are:
  1. Social networking is the most popular online activity worldwide.
  2. Social networking behavior both transcends and reflects regional differences around the world.
  3. The importance of Facebook cannot be overstated.
  4. Microblogging has emerged as a disruptive new force in social networking.
  5. Local social networks are making inroads globally.
  6. It’s not just young people using social networking anymore – it’s everyone.
  7. ‘Digital natives’ suggest communications are going social.
  8. Social networking leads in online display advertising in the U.S., but lags in share of dollars.
  9. The next disrupters have yet to be decided.
  10. Mobile devices are fueling the social addiction.

All data in this report sourced to comScore Media Metrix is based on Internet usage from home and work-based computers from comScore’s proprietary, opt-in research panel, consisting of 2 Million people sourced from 171 countries. Data is individually reported for 43 of those countries. Media Metrix data excludes activity from mobile phones, tablets and other connected devices.

Data from mobile devices comes from two other products in the comScore mobile solutions suite which are available in a subset of these markets and are sourced accordingly. comScore MobiLens data is sourced from an intelligent online survey of nationally representative samples of mobile subscribers age 13+ in the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Canada, and Japan.

comScore GSMA Mobile Media Metrics (MMM) provides a census-level solution for mobile media reporting in the UK, taking irreversibly anonymised mobile Internet usage data from 3 of the 4 UK mobile operators comScore Ad Metrix data sourced in this report refers to the U.S. market only.

The full report can be downloaded from the comScore website.

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