Redes sociales en el mundo: Hechos y estadísticas en América Latina

América Latina cuenta solo con 19 redes sociales, a pesar de que esta región podría beneficiarse potencialmente de un enorme mercado con millones de hispanohablantes (a excepción de Brasil, donde la lengua oficial es el portugués). De estas 19 redes sociales, las comunidades de amigos están a la cabeza con 10, mientras que solo hay dos redes destinadas a los negocios. (*)



Un hecho interesante es que las redes sociales no parecen ser tan populares aún en Oriente Medio o en América del Sur, a pesar de los muchos latinos que viven y trabajan en Estados Unidos, lo que se esperaba que actuase como catalizador. Además, hay unas pocas redes sociales fuera que están enfocadas para latinos, pero muchas de ellas están dirigidas por americanos blancos de Estados Unidos.

Los países de América Latina de los que se habla en el libro son: Argentina, Brasil, Colombia, México, Nicaragua y Venezuela.

Para tener una visión global de los diferentes tipos de redes y comparar el ranking de América Latina con el resto del mundo, haz clic aquí.

Las redes sociales en el mundo. Hechos y estadísticas (mundiales)

Para el libro Redes sociales en el mundo: Cómo la Web 2.0 está cambiando tu vida cotidiana, he sometido a un estudio minucioso a 1000 redes sociales con la intención de ver qué conocimiento tenemos por el momento al respecto y como se presenta el futuro. ¿Qué impacto tiene esta nueva Web 2.0 en la forma de comunicarnos, comprar, vender y conocer nuevas personas? ¿Serán las redes sociales el inicio de una nueva era, en la que nosotros, los consumidores dictemos la forma de negociar con las empresas, o es una publicidad exagerada? Echando un vistazo a la formación de las redes sociales, su uso y difusión a través de las empresas en el mundo, se deduce que éste está cambiando, la tecnología social no sigue necesariamente un predominio político pero, a veces, refleja la forma en la que los países y las culturas miran al mundo.

Tipos de redes sociales en el mundo

Negocios: 12%
Amigos: 27%
Citas: 5%
Aficiones: 40%
Video/Foto: 12%
Movil: 4%

Para ver con más claridad este entramado de comunidades sociales, he introducido 6 categorías diferentes:

1.Negocios, ej: Linkedin
Son las redes sociales en las que el principal objetivo es intercambiar ideas de negocios, encontrar nuevos y/o proveedores, encontrar una nueva posición y darse a conocer entre los cazaejecutivos y futuros empleadores.

2.Amigos, ej: Facebook

Podría decirse que estos sitios son los “fundadores” de las redes sociales: girando alrededor de antiguos y nuevos amigos, estas redes sociales te permiten volver a contactar con antiguos compañeros de clase, encontrar nuevos amigos para pasar el tiempo, tanto en línea como fuera y divertirse.

3.Citas, ej: Meetic

Incluso los sitios destinados a las citas han estado presentes desde el principio. Solo he considerado aquellos sitios web que han incluído la Web 2.0 en su paquete. (Es bastante interesante ver cómo sitos gays se han alzado más rápido en las redes sociales que algunos de sus más estrechos homólogos).

4.Aficiones, ej: Bookmooch

Es de una gran categoría en su ámbito, incluyendo sitios específicos que tratan diferentes temas, como: libros, música, padres, comida, religión, coches, hobbies, etc.

5. Video/Foto, ej: Youtube

Muchas de los sitios video y foto actuales, se han convertido en verdaderas comunidades en línea donde la gente comparte más que una simple foto o un video. En lugar de permitirles compartir opiniones, interactuan entre ellos mismos, ofreciendo opiniones, etc. Se convierte, así en su propia red social.

6.Movil, ej: Dodgeball

Parece que existe un nuevo tipo de redes sociales, son las llamadas redes sociales móviles, denominadas también Mososo (Software de móviles sociales). En éstas podrás contactar con otra comunidad mediante tu teléfono móvil o Internet. Sin embargo, muchos de estas Mososos te permiten acceder a la comunidad también mediante su página web.

Como se puede apreciar, predominan los sitios de aficiones y amigos, principalmente porque los sitios de amigos fueron los que comenzaron con este fenómeno de las redes sociales y porque la categoría de aficiones es la que está creciendo más rápidamente en Estados Unidos, que con su número total de redes, está influyendo considerablemente en los resultados.


Observación 1: es bastante sorprendente que los sitios orientados a los negocios representan solo un 12% de las redes sociales en el mundo. Todavía queda trabajo que hacer para poder desempeñar un buen negocio en la red. Me resulta gracioso que los directores de empresas me digan que ellos no necesitan estas redes sociales o que solo son para adolescentes. Teniendo en cuenta estas estadísticas, creo que cada vez veremos más directores usando las redes sociales para elevar sus perfiles, así como hacer negocios a través de ellas para sus empresas.

Estados Unidos y Canadá: 51%
América Latina: 2%
África: 1%
Australia y Nueva Zelanda: 1,5%
Asia: 6%
La India: 2,5%
Oriente Medio: 2,5%
Rusia y Ucrania: 1,5%
Europa: 31%

Observación2: en cifras absolutas, podemos ver que Estados Unidos y Canadá están a la cabeza con un 51% del total de las redes sociales mundiales. Por otra parte, esto quiere decir que la mitad de las redes sociales provienen de fuera de Estados Unidos, hecho que contradice la creencia popular que, a veces, da por hecho que todas las redes sociales provienen de América. Europa es un buen ejemplo con un tercio del total de las redes sociales.
Me quedé sorprendida al descubrir que Oriente Medio ayuda a construir esta estadística con algunas redes sociales. Vemos por el contrario, que no es evidente que los países industrializados desde hace muchos años estén a la vanguardia de la tecnología, sin embargo, los nuevos países industrializados pueden tomar el liderazgo en la Web 2.0.

Sabine Allaeys- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow.eu

BIO: Sabine Allaeys is the driving force behind Minifizz, a social
community for young girls in the web and mobile space with
presence in the print media. The whole universe is based
upon the foxy MiniFizz characters and the MF Popp's
avatars. It combines old and new media and fun,
selfrealisation, information and commerce in a playful way.

Sabine also has her own blog:
http://millezime.blogspot.com

TOPIC: Sabine will talk about how social networks are an important piece of the puzzle when working on brand management. With Minifizz she connects mobile to the Internet, e-commerce (e.g. for H&M), to offline magazines for girls...

SNATW: Facts & Figures Europe

Looking at the 1,000 social networks we have investigated worldwide, Europe is home to nearly 1/3 of them. Not only Western Europe, but also Eastern Europe has adopted social networking.

In the charts we see that both friendship networks as well as special interest networks are well developed, but even more so than in the US (45), Europe is the cradle of 49 different professional networks, taking the worldwide lead.

Find more on the different social networks in Europe (per country) on p349-492

To compare Europe to the rest of the world, check our previous blogpost.

SNATW: Facts & Figures Russia & Ukraine

Russia & Ukraine have 16 social networks of their own, of which the vast majority is purely social (friends communities).

More information on Russian & Ukranian SN, please read p343-348

To compare Russia & Ukraine to the rest of the world, check our previous blogpost.

SNATW: Facts & Figures Middle East

The Middle East has 27 local social networks, of which the friendship communities are by far most represented.

Interesting to see is that Video and Photo networks are the second most popular type of network (6).

Remark: If we look at social networks based on religion (part of Special Interest), we see that Jewish and Muslim SN are mostly created by Jews or Muslims living outside the Middle East.

More on social networking in the Middle East, p327-340

To compare the Middle East to the rest of the world, check our previous post.

SNATW: Facts & Figures India

As a technologically advanced country, India has adopted social networking in nearly all its aspects. Within the 24 Indian-based SN, we find friendship, dating, special interest, video/photo and mobile sites, although we only found 3 business communities.

Given the explosive growth of the country, especially within the IT industry, I am expecting to hear much more from the Indian networks in the coming years, possibly even a takeover of one of the larger American SN by one of India's giant IT consultancy companies?

To compare India to the rest of the world, check our previous post.

More information on p309-323

SNATW: Facts & Figures Asia

The last few years, Asia has constantly been in the news with regards to technological progress, international trade, etc. On the social networking front, special interest sites closely follow friendship communities, indicating that Asia has both advanced SN sites as well as older, more traditional communities.

Remark: The vast majority of Asian social networks, are focussed on the own community (Chinese, Korean,...) and usually in the local language only. Localisation (putting a website into different languages, targeting different cultures) doesn't seem a high priority for most of these sites so far, leaving the Western world outside.

More on Asian networks on p 285-307

To compare Asia to the rest of the world, read our previous post.

SNATW: Facts & Figures Australia & New Zealand

Due to the sheer extent of the Australian continent, Internet connectivity is not as widespread as in Europe or the US. The Australian government has taken some measures to improve this, but as the graphs show there is still much to be done.

Although Australia and New Zealand have only 16 social networks of their own, it is striking that Special Interest communities are most popular, just like with their American friends.

More info on pages 275-283

To see how Oceania compares to the rest of the world, check here

SNATW: Facts & Figures Africa

With the low level of Internet access, I was surprised to find that the African continent has 11 social networks of its own. SN to make friends are most popular at this time, but given the new technology where SN increasingly are accessible on mobile phones too, I wouldn't be surprised to see a rise in Mobile networks in Africa in the coming years. Mobile phones are popular, and would replace the need for a reliable Internet connection in order to get online.

Countries covered in the book include: Ghana, Kenia, South Africa and Zambia.

SNATW: Facts & Figures Latin America

Latin America counts only 19 social networks of its own, despite the fact that this region could potentially profit from an enormous market of millions of Spanish speakers (with the exception of Brazil where Portuguese is the offical language). Of these 19 SN, Friend communities list on top (10) whereas there are only two business networks. (*)

An interesting fact is that social networking doesn't seem to be as popular (yet) in Middle or South America, despite the many latinos living and working in the US, which you'd expect to work as a catalyst. Also, there are quite a few social networks out there which are targetting Latinos; but most of them are run by white Americans from the States.

Latin American countries that are commented on in the book include: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venzuela.

(*) For a global view on different types of networks and/or to compare where Latin America ranks compared to the rest of the world, check here.

SNATW: Facts & Figures USA

In the previous blogpost, you have noticed that the USA and Canada make up 51% of all social networks worldwide. In absolute figures, this means 503 SN are of American (or Canadian) descent.

Another noteworthy trend however, is that Special Interest Social Networks (*) - meaning SN that revolve around a particular topic or shared interest- are clearly taking the lead in terms of numbers: 278 networks are dedicated to topics such as books, food, parenting, religion, specific age groups, gaming,...the list seems endless.

Taking in mind how the United Stated have dominated the world of social networking so far, it gives an indication to those of you who are wondering where the future of social networking lies: users want to talk about their specific needs and interests, rather than to socialize online for the sake of socializing. We will probably see more specialist networks arrive in the next few months, as the possibilities are endless. Also, it gives the newcomers a better fighting chance to find followers and reach a critical mass; something which is a lot harder to do nowadays when launching a more general SN and having to compete with MySpace and Facebook .

(*) Some American examples include: Humblevoice, Goodreads, Infieldparking, Comicspace, Nirvanawoman, Spout, Bakespace, Warcraft, Zaadz, Patientslikeme, Vostu, ...
For a full list, see pages 69-161 (American special interest networks) and 249- 253 in the book.

Social Networks Around The World: Facts & Figures (worldwide)

For "Social Networks Around The World: How is Web 2.0 Changing Your Daily Life?" , I have taken 1,000 social networks under the microscope in an attempt to see where we are with social networking at this point, and where we are heading in the future. What impact do these new Web 2.0 technologies have on the way we communicate, buy & sell and meet new people? Will social networks be the prelude to a new era where we, the consumer, dictate the way companies do business with us or is it yet another hype? By taking a look at the way social networks are founded, used and spread throughout communities worldwide, we glean insight into how the world is changing - social technology does not necessarily follow political dominance but sometimes reflects the way countries and cultures look at the world.

Business : 12%
Friends: 27%
Dating: 5%
Special Interest: 40%
Video/Photo: 12%
Mobile: 4%

In order to see more clearly into the jungle of all the social communities out there, I have introduced 6 different categories:

1. Business, e.g. Linkedin
   These are the Social Networks (SN) where the primary objective is to exchange business ideas, to find new clients and/or suppliers, to find a new position or to get noticed by headhunters and future employers,...
   
   
   
   
2. Friends, e.g. Facebook
   These sites are arguably the "founders" of social networking: revolving around old and new friends, these SN allow you to (re)connect to old schoolmates, find new friends to hang out with online and possibly offline, and to have fun.
   
   





3. Dating e.g. Meetic
   Even though dating sites have been present on the Internet from the very beginning, I have only taken into consideration those dating sites which have added Web 2.0 elements into their package. (Interestingly enough, gay sites seem to have picked up on social networking faster than some of their straight counterparts.)
   
   





4. Special Interest, e.g. Bookmooch
   This is a huge category in its own right, gathering niche sites built around a vast amount of subjects, such as: books, music, parenting, food, religion, cars, hobbies,...
   
   





5. Video/Photo, e.g. YouTube
   Many of the video and photosites today have become real online communities where people share more than just a video or picture, and instead allowing them to share opinions, interact between themselves, offering opinions etc- turning them into a SN of their own.
   
   





6. Mobile, e.g. Dodgeball
   A relatively new type of SN is the so-called mobile social network, also called MoSoSo (Mobile Social Software), where you connect to a community through your moble phone instead of through the Internet. However, many of these Mososos allow you to access the community through their website as well.
   
   
   As you can see, Special Interest sites and Friends sites are predominant, largely because Friends sites started the whole phenomenon of social networking, and because Special Interest sites are the fastest growing category within the United States, which, by its sheer number, influences the results considerably.

Remark 1: Surprisingly enough, professionally oriented sites make up only 12% of all social networks worldwide. This still leaves a huge market for good business networks to fill. Also, it makes me smile when I hear managers telling me that they don't need these social networks or that they are only used by teenagers...Looking at these figures I think we will see more and more business managers using social networks to enhance their own profiles and/or to do business through them for their companies.

USA & Canada: 51%
Latin America: 2%
Africa: 1%
Australia & New Zealand: 1,50%
Asia: 6%
India: 2,50%
Middle East: 2,50%
Russia & Ukraine: 1,50%
Europe: 31%

Remark 2: In absolute figures, we see that the USA and Canada are leading the pack with 51% of all social networks worldwide. However, it also means that half of all SN are founded outside the United States, contrary to popular belief where we sometimes assume that all SN comes from America. Europe is a good runner up with one third of all SN. I was surprised to see that Eastern Europe helps build this figure with many SN of its own. It is therefore not a given that countries which are industrialized since many years, necessarily are at the forefront of technology, but that newly industrialized countries can take leadership in Web 2.0 as well.

Sagi Richberg- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow.eu

Sagi Richberg (Israel), Founder of Vshake and co-founder and President of a revolutionary monetary based social network currently in stealth mode (to be released by the time of the conference)

Sagi started his career in computer game development and has an extensive background in enterprise management software, security and E-distance learning. He served as a pre-sales engineer and consultant to companies such as Computer Associates and Microsoft. Sagi was also a founder of two previous startups in the fields of CATV testing equipment and social networking.

Wim De Waele- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow.eu

BIO: Wim De Waele, Director of IBBT
Wim De Waele graduated as a master in economics and in computer sciences at the University of Ghent in 1987 where he started his career as scientific researcher in artificial intelligence. He continued his work in intelligent software systems at the Siemens R&D department in Brussels and Munich. Then he worked as a services director at Numetrix, a Canadian software company.

In 1994 Wim became European Services Director at i2 technologies. He promoted to vice-president for consumer goods and retail, and moved to the main quarter of i2 technologies in Dallas. When he returned to Europe in 2001, he became Chief Technology Officer of Real Software. Since 1 August 2004 Wim De Waele is the General Manager of IBBT (Interdisciplinary institute for BroadBand Technology).

Geert Conard- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow.eu

BIO: Geert Conard (Belgium), Country Manager Belgium of Ecademy
Geert Conard became known as the guy who absolutely hated networking. In early 2004 he started out with social business networking through websites as LinkedIn and Ecademy. Exactly one year later he was one of the TOP Networkers in Belgium. This amazing transformation not only changed the way he conducts his business, but actually changed his life 100%.

In his book “A Girlfriend in Every City”, he shares his story, but also his methods and insights for networking with people whether online or face to face at networking meetings. Social business networking has changed his life in just over a year and he now works with people he hadn’t met until he began sharing his ideas and thoughts with complete strangers.
Geert now networks internationally, is Country Manager of Ecademy Belgium and runs his own ICT Support company called IT Consult Services.
Today Geert claims to receive 95% of his new business projects and sales through his newly developed network. The other 5% is gained through word-of-mouth publicity from his existing customers. Geert never spends any more money on publicity or marketing. Only this saving can already justify the time he spends on networking.

Geert's speeches are always loaded with networking tips. Most tips are simple and easy to take into action to improve your own networking experience.




TOPIC: Proactive networking on Ecademy, LinkedIn, Facebook,... How to get started & how to maximize results? With tips for offline networking as well, which you can put into practise at the event ;-)

Bas van de Haterd- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow.eu

BIO: Bas van de Haterd (the Netherlands), van de Haterd Consultancy
Bas van de Haterd is a professional medler. That's something like a consultant, he just doesn't always keep to the job he's hired for. His goal is always to help a company forward the best he can even if that means pointing out problems that some people within the company would rather ignore. He was 'raised' in business in the new media sector. His main area of expertise is new media and recruitment, helping companies not to be afraid of the new media but embrace it.
Next to that he's a business developer, helping companies (mainly but not exclusively in the recruitment industry) making money out of new media opportunities. As a fanatic blogger and networker he is a personal brand in his own niche market in the Netherlands.

TOPIC:

Bas will have an interesting story on how companies use social networking and Web 2.0 to recruit online, how they can use it to influence their employer branding, the do's & don'ts..

Octavio Pitaluga- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow.eu

Octavio Pitaluga (Brazil), Founder of TEN Top Executives Net
- Chief Networking Officer of TEN - TOP EXECUTIVES NET and of NET-BRIDGES

BIO: Business networks manager, certified international business coach, public speaker and trainer. The most connected South American professional in the main online social and business networks. He defined the CNO - Chief Networking Officer responsibilities on Wikipedia. In the corporate world, Octavio has worked for Tele2 Europe as Marketing and Sales Director of its electronic transactions processing subsidiary, 3C Communications, responsible for operations in up to 17 countries and four business units in Western Europe. He also worked for Seara Alimentos (Cargill Group now) and Kanematsu do Brasil Ltda. He has an MBA degree from RSM Erasmus University, The Netherlands and post-graduation studies in International Business for UFRJ/ECEX. His academic background and professional experience relates to sciences, international business and marketing of technology with relevant international business exposure in more than 25 countries. TEN Top Executives Net is the first trusted worldwide, online, business community whose focus is to bridge and to accelerate business between Ibero America and the international community.

TOPIC:

Octavio will present the benefits of Business Networks Management (BNM) methodology and the new leadership concept of CNO - Chief Networking Officer and his/her business networks managers.

NOTE: Octavio will be staying a couple of days in Europe, previous to and after the 5th of June. Good news for those of you who want to do business with South-America. You can Skype him at octaviopitaluga.

ThinkTomorrow.eu

On June 5th, 2008, TrendQ is organizing ThinkTomorow.eu, the first European conference on Social Networking & Web 2.0 and its economic value for companies.

You will meet Industry Leaders and peers from other companies who have successfully implemented Web 2.0 elements into their online recruitment campaigns or sales & marketing departments.

Who should attend:

• HR/ Recruitment Managers
• Marketing Managers
• Business Development Managers & Account Managers
• Technology & Trendwatchers

In the following weeks, we will highlight the profiles of our speakers, who you will get a chance to meet at the event. Check out our blog regularly to get all the details.

Don't want to miss it? Get your Early Bird tickets here!