Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Social Networking in Brazil - ComScore´s Research

Eighty Five Percent of Brazilian Internet Users Visited a Social Networking Site in September 2008

Google-Owned Orkut Dominates Social Networking in Brazil


These findings, as well as additional industry insights, will be presented during a complimentary Portuguese-language webinar, entitled State of the Internet in Brazil, on Wednesday, November 26 at 3 p.m. San Paulo time (see webinar details below).

Percent Reach for Social Networking Category in Selected Countries*
September 2008 vs. September 2007

Total Worldwide, Age 15+, Home and Work Locations*

Source: comScore World Metrix

Country

Percent Reach

Sep-2007

Sep-2008

Point Change

Canada

83.9

86.5

2.6

Brazil

76.0

85.3

9.3

United Kingdom

78.7

78.4

-0.3

Mexico

67.3

73.0

5.7

Spain

63.9

70.7

6.8

United States

65.8

70.2

4.5

Australia

56.5

67.5

11.1

Germany

45.9

65.5

19.6

Italy

53.0

62.2

9.1

Netherlands

55.7

61.3

5.6

Russian Federation

36.3

60.7

24.4

India

50.9

60.3

9.4

France

51.4

59.1

7.7

South Korea

52.3

58.3

6.0

Japan

56.4

55.7

-0.7

China

44.7

50.3

5.6

Taiwan

48.1

42.9

-5.2

*Includes countries with a total Internet population of at least 10 million unique visitors in September 2008.

**Excludes traffic from public computers, such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones/PDAs.

“For Internet users in Brazil, social networking continues to flourish as a hugely popular activity,” said Alex Banks, managing director of Latin America for comScore. “One likely reason for social networking’s success in Brazil is that its concept of online community closely aligns with the culture in Brazil, which is also centered on a strong sense of community and social activity.”

Social Networking Penetration High Throughout Latin America
In addition to Brazil, social networking is a popular Internet pastime across much of Latin America. Nearly 9 out of 10 people in the region visited a social networking site in September 2008, up 9 percentage points from September 2007. While social networking among Latin American nations had the highest reach in Brazil, comScore data show that Chile and Colombia were not far behind with 80 percent reach. Though Puerto Rico had the lowest penetration (71 percent) for the social networking category, it saw the largest gain versus year ago with a 10-percentage point increase.

Percent Reach for Social Networking Category in Latin America
September 2008 vs. September 2007

Total Latin America, Age 15+, Home and Work Locations*

Source: comScore World Metrix

Country

Percent Reach

Sep-2007

Sep-2008

Point Change

Latin America

78.0

87.2

9.3

Brazil

76.0

85.3

9.3

Chile

74.0

80.1

6.1

Colombia

69.9

79.6

9.7

Argentina

70.4

77.1

6.7

Venezuela

69.1

77.1

8.0

Mexico

67.3

73.0

5.7

Puerto Rico

60.5

70.5

10.0

*Excludes traffic from public computers, such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones/PDAs.

Orkut is the Dominant Social Networking Site in Brazil

With 21 million unique visitors in September 2008, Google-owned Orkut was by far the most visited social network site in Brazil. Visitors spent an average of 496 minutes on the site during the month, with an average of 28 visits per visitor, ranking Orkut as the social networking site with the highest engagement also.

Visitation and Engagement for Selected Social Networking Sites in Brazil
September 2008

Total Brazil, Age 15+, Home and Work Locations

Source: comScore World Metrix

Selected Social Networking Sites

Total Unique Visitors (000)

Average Minutes per Visitor

Average Visits per Visitor

Total Internet : Total Audience

26,221

1,608.1

47.5

Orkut

20,752

496.1

28.3

Yahoo! Geocities

3,916

2.8

1.8

SONICO.COM

2,978

10.1

2.7

MINGLEBOX.COM

1,677

1.6

2.4

FOTOLOG.COM

1,606

22.1

5.3

8P.COM.BR

1,463

11.2

1.9

MULTIPLY.COM

1,189

4.4

1.5

HI5.COM

1,142

10.6

2.0

Lycos Tripod

1,115

1.8

1.4

MYSPACE.COM

893

13.2

2.3

LIMEALL.COM

387

0.6

1.7

DEVIANTART.COM

386

7.3

1.8

FACEBOOK.COM

360

14.2

2.7


*comScore Media Metrix monitors the online activities of individuals in Brazil within a universe defined as those aged 15+ who have accessed the Internet from either a home or a work computer in the past 30 days. It excludes traffic from public computers, such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones/PDAs. Since a significant number of consumers in Brazil access the Internet from outside this universe definition, comScore has developed an Extended Universe for the online population in Brazil, which is computed differently from comScore's Total Internet estimate. comScore estimates Brazil's Extended Universe to be 56.2 million.

“With more than five times the number of unique visitors as any other social networking site in Brazil, Orkut has a commanding position in the marketplace,” said Banks. “The site is a particularly attractive venue for advertisers because it is able to deliver both a large and highly engaged audience.”

Further details

Conclusion: Given that Orkut dominates the social networking arena in Brazil, no wonder why only a few executives here really understand about social media and have already incorporated it in your marketing strategy.... Well, I see a lot of space for training and coaching once local market becomes ready for such amazing opportunity.


Octavio Pitaluga
TEN - Top Executives Net
CNO - Chief Networking Officer

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