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Social media crosses divides in SA

Kathryn McConnachie
By Kathryn McConnachie, Digital Media Editor at ITWeb.
Johannesburg, 05 Sept 2012

Both Facebook and Twitter have crossed the urban/rural divide in SA, according to the latest South African Social Media Landscape 2012 study, released by World Wide Worx and Fuseware this week. The study looked at data from August 2011 to August 2012.

The study says: “The proportion of urban adults using Facebook is a little less than double rural users - but rural users are now at the level where urban users were 18 months ago. Twitter's urban penetration is a little more than double its rural penetration, but the rural proportion has also caught up to where the urban proportion was 18 months ago.”

Overall, at the end of August, the study says 5.33 million South Africans were using Facebook on the Web. World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says, however, that the true extent of the social network's penetration in SA is “significantly underestimated” since Facebook doesn't measure mobile-only usage locally. “Primary research among consumers by World Wide Worx shows that 6.8 million people access Facebook on their phones.”

Goldstuck says Facebook is going mainstream in SA, with the number of over 60s on Facebook growing by 44%. Other age groups have seen more moderate growth, with usage among the 30-60 age group growing 30%, those aged between 19-30 growing by 20%, and only 10% growth among teenagers.

“The younger segments are still far from saturation, but we're not seeing the same heady pace of growth among the youth as before,” says Goldstuck.

According to Fuseware MD Mike Wronski, “social media fatigue” has set in for the more over-active users “who follow too much, communicate too much, and vent too much”. “But most users are arriving in this world for the first time, and new users are going to keep coming. It's mainstream today but, tomorrow, it will be pervasive.”

Filling a gap

According to the research findings, Twitter has grown its user base in SA to 2.4 million (from 1.1 million last year), adding 100 000 new users a month on average since August last year (roughly the same growth rate as Facebook).

The primary research of World Wide Worx was cross-checked with Fuseware data collected directly from the social networks, in order to validate the findings. Wronski says: “Different methodologies allow us to gain deeper insights, as well as provide cross-validation for our data.”

According to the study, the number of single users on Facebook is growing faster than any other relationship group (growing 25% to 957 000). The number of married and engaged users has each grown by 16%, while the category of those “in a relationship” has increased by 9%.

“Clearly, Facebook is filling a relationship gap in the lives of many South Africans,” says Goldstuck. “But social networks are also so much more - we see them playing the roles of communication, information and entertainment networks.”

Messaging mix

The study also showed LinkedIn has recorded strong growth (albeit lower than Facebook and Twitter), reaching 1.93 million South African users. Pinterest, the social pinboarding service that has skyrocketed in markets such as the US, only has 150 000 local users.

Whatsapp has come from nowhere last year to surge ahead of competitors to become the most popular instant messaging tool among South Africans over the age of 16 in urban areas, with a user base of 4.6 million.

Home-grown mobile social network, Mxit, is said to have 9.35 million local users, and new instant messaging tool 2Go has emerged as a new player, with close to a million adult users.

Last year, Goldstuck said of the findings: “Under-25s multitask better than any other age segment, and are easily able to absorb multiple networks. However, it then becomes a question of where their primary focus goes, and that focus drives the next big thing.

“While the sheer scale and scope of Facebook makes it a formidable player that will probably hold onto its users for longer, that didn't prevent Twitter from going mainstream.”

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