| Internet users in developing countries spend more time on social networks Will McKitterick | October 02, 2015 Want to receive more free charts from BI Intelligence? Sign up here » Countries with lower internet penetration rates have higher levels of engagement with social networking sites than developed countries do, according to a new report by GWI. While it may seem counterintuitive that internet users in emerging internet nations are ahead of their counterparts in developed markets, the two groups of users have very different profiles. Here are some surprising findings from the report: - Internet penetration levels are much lower in some of the world's fastest-growing countries, such as Turkey (60%) or India (20%). Nevertheless, these areas boast some of the highest levels of social media engagement.
- For example, internet users in the Philippines spend the most time on social networking sites, but the country has an internet penetration level of just 37%.
- Conversely, some of the world's most developed markets, where large social media players like Facebook have been active for years, have some of the lowest levels of social media usage.
- Internet users in Japan spend the least amount of time on social networking sites. Their engagement with sites like Facebook has actually fallen since 2012.
So what explains this gulf in usage rates between developed and developing countries? GWI explains that it all comes down to who uses the internet in these countries. In most developing countries, the "connected" demographic tends to skew younger. They also tend to be more affluent and urban, and therefore more likely to be engaged with digital media. Developed markets tend to have older populations that spend less time on social sites like Facebook and Instagram. This is a critical determining factor when comparing social media engagement – or any form of internet usage – between developing and developed countries. One trend does hold true across all countries: the average time spent on social networking is rising. Some countries have, of course, exhibited slower growth than others. For example, average usage rates have increased in Spain, Canada, and China by 0.03, 0.15, and 0.16 hours respectively since 2012. However, some of the faster-growing emerging markets have witnessed the largest increases (about half an hour each) over the past three years. Only Japan and Australia have witnessed a decline. Get Daily Industry Insights with the INSIDER Newsletters from BI Intelligence Do you need to stay ahead of the latest trends in digital? Subscribe to the daily INSIDER newsletters covering mobile, digital media, e-commerce, payments and the Internet of Things. Select your INSIDER edition or subscribe to all five.
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