1GWI Social January 2014

GlobalWebIndexs quarterly report on the latest trends in social network usage and engagement

2IndexKEY TRENDS, STATISTICSAND IMPLICATIONS

TOPLINETRENDS

MARKETTRENDS

DEMOGRAPHICTRENDS

DEVICETRENDS

TOPBEHAVIORS

FUTUREOUTLOOK

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3Introduction

GWI Social is where GlobalWebIndex presents the very latest figures for social media adoption and usage across more than 30 global markets.

In this edition, we draw on data from our Q4 2013 wave of research, released in January 2014, to:

Track the progress of social media platforms around the world Look at trends relevant to specific markets and demographic groups Examine usage on different devices Identify the most popular behaviors among users

By analyzing such recent and robust data which is representative of nearly 90% of the global internet audience, we are able to cut through the headlines and hype to provide a unique understanding of whats actually happening within the social media landscape.

The global charts featured in this report exclude data for China; this is due to the sheer scale of the Chinese market, which can distort global figures, as well as the widespread usage of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and Proxy Servers within the country a trend which makes it difficult to display social networking data in a way which is comparable with other markets. However, its abundantly clear that there are huge levels of engagement with social media platforms in China something we discuss in our upcoming Market Report on the country.

Clients can also access further detail on any of the topics covered in this report through our pre-cut Data Packs available to download in the Insight Store.

4KEY TRENDS, STATISTICS AND IMPLICATIONS1Key Trends Facebook remains the number one social network, topping the list for account ownership, active usage and visit frequency. It is also the most popular site in all regions and its users are the most likely to be carrying out a range of networking activities. It continues to experience declines in levels of active usage but the extent of the drop in the second half of 2013 has been significantly over-exaggerated in some reports; it is still hugely popular among all demographic groups and there have in fact been increases in the audience sizes for its apps.

The biggest rises in active user numbers between Q2 and Q4 were recorded on some of the newer or less-established networks such as Instagram and Reddit, illustrative of how much more diversified the social networking landscape has become. But some of bigger players including Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter also recorded small to modest increases.

By far the strongest levels of growth in users have been seen for networking and messaging apps, with WeChat enjoying particularly explosive rises. And although the overall size of the social audience via mobile still lags somewhat behind that of PCs/laptops, mobile users are among the most frequent visitors and active users. A wide range of activities undertaken on social networks have in fact declined via PCs and laptops but increased via mobiles.

Younger internet users remain the most active on social networks, but it is 25-34s rather than 16-24s who form the greatest share of regular users on almost all of the biggest sites. Only on YouTube, Instagram and Tumblr do 16-24s lead.

The most socially engaged region is the Middle East and Africa, where we see the greatest shares of the digital audience active on the major social networks. More generally, account membership and active usage levels tend to be higher in emerging internet markets than in established markets such as the US and UK.

Large numbers in China and other emerging internet markets say that they use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to access restricted sites such as Facebook indicating that traditional tracking methods are failing to capture the true size of the audience in these markets and are under-estimating the extent of social activity within these countries.

5Key Statistics

Key Implications

More than 80% of the global internet audience are members of Facebook, with about 50% being active users. Just 10% of internet users are not using any social networks.

Between Q2 and Q4, the estimated number of active users on Instagram rose by nearly 25%; Pinterest and Google+ saw increases of 6% while Twitter climbed by 2%. In contrast, active user numbers for Facebook and YouTube experienced declines of 3%, with Myspace dropping by 12%. If we look at figures across the whole of 2013, Facebooks active user numbers fell 24%, indicating that the scale of the decline eased considerably between Q2 and Q4.

About 55% of Facebooks active users are visiting the site more than once a day the highest figure across the major networks. iOS users are the most frequent mobile visitors to the site, with nearly 60% logging on multiple times each day.

The estimated audience size for WeChat grew by 379% between Q2 and Q4. Other social or messaging apps recording strong increases include Vine (+105%), SnapChat (+54%) and WhatsApp (+35%). Facebook remains the dominant app, though, being used by nearly 70% of the mobile internet audience.

Over a third in several nations say that they use VPNs when accessing the internet, with 55% of this group in China saying that they do so in order to visit restricted sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Global figures for social media engagement demonstrate that networking is now relevant and mainstream virtually everywhere. Social platforms offer reach on a truly global scale as well as the chance for highly cost-effective spending on targeted advertising. But strategies need to respond to trends and behaviors at regional and, in places, national levels one plan for all markets will rarely prove to be effective.

Reports about the declining usage of major social platforms are not a cause for alarm. Although small decreases are likely to continue in 2014 on sites such as Facebook, the biggest networks are so embedded within online infrastructures that they will not be abandoned or lose their relevance. Indeed, the global reach of Facebook, Google+, Twitter and the other major players is still considerable something which will not change.

That said, the social media landscape has become a much broader and more diverse place than it used to be. Quite simply, there are far more networks now available to people, making it essential that social strategies think beyond the largest sites to capitalize on opportunities to engage (growing) audiences on smaller and less-established networks.

Mobile is having a huge impact on social media behaviors and is the area where we will continue to see the biggest growth in engagement. But mobile networking involves a quite different, and less involved, type of interaction than on PCs/laptops or even tablets. Within any strategy, a response to mobile-first (or even mobile-only) networking will be increasingly vital.

6TOPLINE TRENDSGlobal engagement with social networking2 Facebook remains the number one social network, boasting the highest number of members and active users as well as the most frequent levels of usage illustrating just how central it still is to the online experience.

Membership of YouTube, Google+ and Twitter the next most popular sites after Facebook tops 50% of the global internet audience. That Google+ has reached this figure in a relatively short time frame is striking.

Instagram is the fastest growing platform, adding the largest number of active users between Q2 and Q4 2013. This reflects a wider trend of newer or less-established networks enjoying the biggest increases in active usage.

Key Headlines

Account Ownership: Facebook still leads

Question: You will now see a selection of various social media services. Please select all of the services on which you have an account and also indicate if you have used or contributed to that service in the past month using any type of device e.g. PC/Laptop, Mobile phone, tablet, etc.Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Global internet users aged 16-64, exc. China.

CHART 1: Global Penetration Of Social Platforms - Account Ownership And Active Usage

AccountOwnership

ActiveUsage

7Facebook remains the dominant force within the social media landscape; as we detail in Chart 1, more than 80% of the global internet audience are members of the site, a figure which remained consistent throughout the whole of 2013 and which represents an estimated 875 million people.

Facebook is followed by YouTube (59%), Google+ (58%) and Twitter (51%), all three of which saw increasing percentages of internet users having an account during 2013; Facebook still remains someway ahead of this pack, but the gap has been narrowing.

Account ownership levels have also grown for LinkedIn (up from c. 20% of internet users in Q1 2013 to about 30% in Q4), Pinterest (nearly doubling from about 10% to 20% in the same period), and Instagram (passing the 20% mark for the first time in Q4).

Perhaps most significantly, just 10% of global internet users are not members of at least one social media platform an important indicator of how socially engaged the global internet audience has become.

Active Usage: Instagram has made the biggest gainsWhen we turn our attention to levels of active usage those people who have actually used or contributed to a site in the last month, rather than just having an account we see that Facebook is once again the leader, with the active user figure sitting at just under 50%.

% of Account Owners Active in the Past Month /// Question: Which of the following services have you used or contributed to in the past month using any type of device? e.g. PC/Laptop, Mobile phone, tablet, etc /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Global internet users aged 16-64, exc. China.

CHART 2: Top 10 Social Networks: Active Usage

Facebook also enjoys the best ratio of active to non-active users (Chart 2), indicating that it has the most engaged membership base. Of the top 10 global social media platforms, it is in fact the only site to have more than half of its members actively using it on a monthly basis followed by Twitter and Instagram (40%+ each) and then YouTube, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn and Tumblr (30%+ each).

8But while Facebooks ratio remains impressive, its important to recognize that the share of active users has fallen by five percentage points since Q2 2013. Indeed, its by looking at changes in the numbers of active users for each social platform that we can best determine which sites are gaining the most momentum. And its here that, for the first time, Facebook falls from pole position.

Instagram was the fastest growing platform between Q2 and Q4 2013, seeing a 23% increase in its active user base (to reach an estimated 90.8 million users).

Strong growth was also enjoyed by content-sharing site Reddit (up 13%), while rises of more than 5% were recorded for LinkedIn, Yammer, Badoo, Pinterest, Tumblr, Quora and Google+. Chinese micro-blogging sites Tencent Weibo and Sina Weibo also grew in estimated audience size outside of their home market.

The increasing popularity of many relatively new or less-established social platforms was a key story in 2013: question and answer site Quora, for example, more than doubled its active user base last year, growing to 17.8 million users by Q4. Reddit also saw a two-fold increase during the same period, approaching nearly 25 million active users by the end of 2013.

Of course, some perspective is essential here: these platforms still have relatively small user bases compared to more established sites, and hence it is easier for them to record impressive increases. To give some context, Facebooks active user number remains more than five times greater than that of Instagram. Its also the case that the scale of increase for sites such as Quora and Reddit slowed in the second half of 2014, following more dramatic gains earlier in the year.

% change in millions of active users between Q2 and Q4 2013 /// Question: Which of the following services have you used or contributed to in the past month using any type of device? e.g. PC/Laptop, Mobile phone, tablet, etc /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Global internet users aged 16-64, exc. China.

CHART 3: Top 20 Social Platforms - Changes in Active Usage

9This acknowledged, we nevertheless expect emerging platforms to continue enjoying buoyant levels of growth throughout 2014. This will create an obvious challenge for big players such as Facebook, which saw a small decrease in the number of active users in the last half of 2013 (following a steeper drop between Q1 and Q2); it is hardly in terminal decline, as some recent reports have claimed, but it will have to work hard to maintain the interest of users who can increasingly turn to alternatives which are more specialized or perceived to be more relevant especially in the mobile-first younger age groups (see Demographic Trends).

Its also worth noting the 20% increase in social network account holders who say they havent recently used or contributed to any of their networks indicating the presence of a sizeable and growing number of accounts where the owners are not engaging. In part, this can be explained by the increasing need to have an account in order to access or use certain online sites: internet users therefore become members of networks, without necessarily using them. More simply, though, this trend also reflects a weakening in appeal of social networking for some internet users something which is inevitable over time.

Frequency of Visits: Facebook dominatesOne of the new questions added to our latest wave of GWI research allows us to examine how frequently active users are visiting social networks.

Question: Thinking about the social platforms listed below that you use or contribute to each month, can you please tell us how often you typically use each one? /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Active social network users aged 16-64, exc. China.

CHART 4: Frequency of visits to social platforms When this is measured across the top 10 social networks, the popularity of Facebook is strikingly clear. Among those using it on a monthly basis, more than half are logging on more than once a day. More, 95% of active Facebook users visit the site at least weekly.

Engagement levels for the other major social networks are somewhat lower, although 30% or more of active users on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Google+ are also making multiple visits to the sites each day.

This is a trend catalyzed by the rise of mobile networking, something which has made it progressively easier to connect to social networks on a regular basis, especially while out and about. Still increasing levels of smartphone ownership and ever-improving mobile internet coverage will provide ongoing boosts to this phenomenon in 2014 and beyond (see Device Trends).

Finally, these figures also make clear the challenge facing Myspace of the top 10 platforms, it has the lowest share of active accounts (Chart 2), has seen the biggest drop in active user numbers (Chart 3) and is also the site that people are least likely to visit on a daily basis. As a comparison, members of Facebook are 3.5 times more likely to visit the platform several times a day than their counterparts on Myspace.

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MARKET TRENDSAnalyzing engagement at a regional and national level3 Facebook is the most popular platform in all regions. Even though active usage fell slightly between Q2 and Q4 2013, it remains absolutely crucial to all social strategies.

Emerging internet markets have the most socially engaged digital audiences, with the highest membership percentages across the top social networks. This reflects the status and appeal that networking commands in these markets.

Significant numbers are using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and Proxy Servers to access social media sites, suggesting that the scale of networking activity in markets such as China has been considerably under-estimated by traditional tracking methods and that many networkers in emerging internet markets are being incorrectly geo-located.

The Middle East & North Africa boasts the most socially active internet audiences, with the highest percentage of regular networkers across the top 10 global social platforms. In contrast, Europe is the least socially engaged region.

In all parts of the world, though, one constant remains: Facebook is the clear leader, with 40% or more of internet users in each region active on the site (Chart 5). Engagement peaks at 55% in North America (representing an estimated 110.3 million people) and, from region to region, Facebook typically has around twice as many active users as the next most popular social platform (Twitter in Asia Pacific, Google+ in the Middle East & North Africa and YouTube in all other regions).

However, also consistent in all places is a decline in active users on Facebook during the period Q2 to Q4 2013.

Key Headlines

Top social networks by region:Facebook consistently ahead

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Everywhere we look, this measure fell by between 3 and 6 percentage points during this period. Certainly, other large networks such as YouTube and Twitter also recorded small declines in many regions, but not to the same extent.

As we emphasized earlier, these contractions in active usage are relatively small and Facebook still outpaces any other network by a considerable way; people are certainly not abandoning the market leader and for it to maintain such high levels of usage so long after its entrance into the mainstream is impressive. But these figures do suggest that the intensity with which it is being used is weakening a little, particularly as alternative networks continue to gain ground.

Question: Which of the following services have you used or contributed to in the past month using any type of device? e.g. PC/Laptop, Mobile phone, tablet, etc /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Global internet users aged 16-64, exc. China.

Question: Which of the following services have you used or contributed to in the past month using any type of device? e.g. PC/Laptop, Mobile phone, tablet, etc /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Global internet users aged 16-64, exc. China.

CHART 5: Active Usage of Top 10 Social Platforms, by Region

CHART 6: Change in the % of Active Users on Facebook, Q2-Q4 2013

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Account ownership and active usage across all four of the largest social networking platforms is led by the emerging internet nations, with figures often being significantly higher than in more longer-established markets.

Top social networks by country:Indonesian internet users are the most social

Question: Which of the following services have you used or contributed to in the past month using any type of device? e.g. PC/Laptop, Mobile phone, tablet, etc /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Global internet users aged 16-64, exc. China.

CHART 7: Account Ownership and Active Usage of Facebook, Google+, YouTube and Twitter, by country

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Engagement is especially high in many APAC countries. In Indonesia and Malaysia, for example, 97% of internet users have a Facebook account. Similarly, 80%+ of the internet audience in Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Philippines are members of Google+; Indonesia also tops the global list for Twitter, with 82% having an account and 40% being active users.

One exception to this is Pinterest (Chart 8), a network still embraced most enthusiastically by the American audience. A third of US internet users now have accounts, just under half of whom are active users.

For other US-created networks, though, the story is quite different. Perhaps most strikingly, Chart 7 reveals that Facebook penetration is higher in all emerging internet markets than in America (85%). Similar patterns are evident elsewhere, too: 75% in Mexico have a YouTube account, vs. 60% in the US; active usage of Twitter stands at nearly 75% in Turkey vs. 50% in America. There can be little doubt about the value attached to social networking by internet audiences in emerging internet markets just as the consistently low account membership and active usage levels seen in Germany and Japan illustrate the relative lack of importance that these nations attach to social networking.

Looking beyond the major platforms, one of the biggest trends in 2013 was the serious declines recorded by several country-specific social platforms in Europe. Between Q2 and Q4 last year, for example, Dutch site Hyves saw a drop in active users of nearly 80% down from over a million to just under 0.25 million. Similarly, Spanish platform Tuenti lost just over two thirds of its active users, dipping to an estimated 1.07 million. In Germany, MeinVZ shed over 40%; Copains dAvant in France and Nasza-Klasa in Poland lost more than 50% each, while vKontakte in Russia recorded a decrease of 20%.

The decreasing popularity of single-country networks is certainly not evident in all global regions; Eyny in Taiwan as well as MoTribe, BlueWorld, My Genius and Social Press in South Africa all made substantial gains in their active user bases between Q2 and Q4 2013. But in Europe at least, its these networks that have shed the most users, perhaps in part as they cannot offer the same international convenience and connectivity as the big, global networks.

Question: Which of the following services have you used or contributed to in the past month using any type of device? e.g. PC/Laptop, Mobile phone, tablet, etc /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Global internet users aged 16-64, exc. China.

CHART 8: Account Ownership and Active Usage of Pinterest - Top 10 Countries

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As noted in the introduction, China has been excluded from most of the figures presented in this report. It is abundantly clear, however, that usage of social media platforms is huge in China; it in fact represents one of the most socially engaged markets something which carries significant implications given its population size.

China is also one of the most diversified social markets, with a large number of platforms competing for attention. As we detail in Chart 9, Sina Weibo leads the way (80% membership and nearly 60% active usage), while Qzone, Tencent Weibo, Tencent, Youku and RenRen also have account membership levels of more than 50%. In ninth and tenth place are Google+ and Facebook, both of which have reported active usage of around 20%.

But this picture needs to be nuanced. One of our brand new questions looks at usage of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) and Proxy Servers, tools which allow internet users to access restricted sites and browse anonymously. As Chart 10 makes clear, usage of VPNs is considerable in emerging internet markets led by Indonesia where more than 40% of the internet audience are doing this. The figure tops 30% in 10 markets and reaches just over a third in China (representing approximately 160 million internet users).

VPN Usage: Significant in Emerging Internet Markets

Question: Which of the following services have you used or contributed to in the past month using any type of device? e.g. PC/Laptop, Mobile phone, tablet, etc /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Internet users aged 16-64, China

CHART 9: Account Ownership and Active Usage of Social Networks in China

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Looking at peoples motivations for using VPNs makes it clear why this behavior has such major implications for measuring social media engagement. Some 55% of those who use them in China say that they do so to access restricted sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Around 60% are using VPNs to access better entertainment content on platforms such as YouTube. These are among the highest percentages seen in any emerging internet market, strongly suggesting that traditional estimates of the size and scale of the social media landscape in China need revision.

To explore this subject in more detail, please see our White Paper dedicated to audience measurement.

Question: When you access the internet, do you ever do so using a VPN (virtual private network) or proxy server? /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Global internet users aged 16-64

CHART 10: Usage of VPNs and Proxy Servers, by country

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DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS

Demographic impacts on social media engagement4 On most major social networks, men comprise the greatest share of active users at a global level. However, Pinterest is an exception and the gender ratio in particular markets can be quite different to the global average.

Across nearly all of the top 10 platforms, the 25-34 age group is the most active a trend driven by an upward shift in the age profile of active users as well as the growing popularity of less-established platforms among the youngest networkers.

Instagram, Pinterest and Quora added the highest numbers of younger users in the last half of 2013, indicative of the small but consistent movement away from many of the most well-known social networks by 16-24s.

When active user bases are analyzed, the global gender split on many of the worlds top social platforms is far from even.

The Gender Effect: Women Lead for Pinterest,Men for LinkedIn

Question: Which of the following services have you used or contributed to in the past month using any type of device? e.g. PC/Laptop, Mobile phone, tablet, etc /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Global internet users aged 16-64

CHART 11: Active Users of the Top 10 Social Platforms, by Gender

Key Headlines

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With three quarters of its active users being men and just one quarter women, Orkut shows the biggest gender difference. LinkedIn follows closely behind with a male/female ratio of 2:1; the active audiences of Google+, Twitter, Myspace and YouTube are also led by men.

The only major social platform where women lead is Pinterest, although Instagrams user base is split evenly.

However, these overall figures are influenced heavily by markets like India where male networkers dominate many platforms. As an example, the gender split for active Facebook users in India is 84% male vs. 16% female a pattern replicated across all of the networks tracked by GWI.

If we compare this to the US, a quite different picture emerges. Men still lead on platforms like LinkedIn (57%), Myspace (55%), Quora (71%) and Reddit (66%), but women are ahead on Facebook (54%), Instagram (65%), Tumblr (55%) and Twitter (53%). And female users dominate Pinterest, representing an 80% share of its active audience. Tracking usage by gender at a market level is thus crucial. Its also important to note that gender has much less of an impact over networking behaviors. Globally, similar numbers of men and women are accessing social networks via mobiles and tablets, for example. The same is true for visiting most of the top social platforms more than once a day (except on Instagram, where women are noticeably ahead of men).

Overall, then, its clear that while the popularity of various sites can vary significantly by gender, networking activities, behaviors and device usage are influenced much less by this measure.

As might be expected, more than 50% of active users on all of the top social platforms are drawn from the 16-34 age bracket.

The Age Effect: 16-24s dominate Instagram & Tumblr

Question: Which of the following services have you used or contributed to in the past month using any type of device? e.g. PC/Laptop, Mobile phone, tablet, etc /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Global internet users aged 16-64

CHART 12: Active Users of the Top 10 Social Platforms, by Age

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However, it is the 25-34s who form the largest share of users on nearly all of these networks very likely because many in these groups joined the platforms in question some years ago and have remained active users ever since. It must be telling that 25-34s form the biggest share of the audience on Myspace (37%); essentially, membership bases for some of the most well-established networks are ageing.

The youngest internet users dominate on two of the less-established networks, with 16-24s forming nearly 40% of the active user base for Instagram and 45% for Tumblr. Close to a third of Pinterest users also come from this age group.

This migration of younger users to less mainstream platforms is a trend we expect to continue, particularly as some of the major networks lose a little of the automatic appeal they once had. Indeed, its evident from Chart 13 looking at changes in the numbers of active users between Q3 and Q4 2013 that sites such as Quora, Instagram and Pinterest are gaining the most ground among younger internet users. In contrast, many of the more established names such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are seeing small declines (although these are not necessarily limited to the youngest groups, with Facebook and YouTube recording decreases across all age groups between Q3 and Q4).

Question: Which of the following services have you used or contributed to in the past month using any type of device? e.g. PC/Laptop, Mobile phone, tablet, etc Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 Base: Global internet users aged 16-64

CHART 13: Changes in Active User Numbers between Q3 and Q4 2013, by Age

These figures also provide caution against the claim that Facebook is in critical decline among teens. Between Q3 and Q4 2013, the number of active users aged 16-19 fell by 2%: a drop, certainly, but hardly reflective of wholesale desertion especially when there are still an estimated 34.19 million active global users in this age bracket.

At the other end of the age spectrum, the share of older networkers remains small reaching a peak on Facebook, where 8% of active users are from the 55-64 group. Changes across the top 10 platforms between Q3 and Q4 are rather uneven in this age group; the numbers of older networkers grew on Twitter, Tumblr and Quora but dropped elsewhere.

Generally, though, we should anticipate further overall rises in the 45+ group in the years ahead (especially in the 55+ bracket). This will be driven not just by the migration of some younger users to alternative sites which will impact the age profile on the most well-known platforms but also by increasing levels of internet and social media engagement among older consumers. The biggest proportional rises in networking levels during the next decade are highly likely to be seen in the oldest age groups creating obvious implications for social communication strategies.

To explore a wide range of other demographic measures, including working status, income and lifestage as well as ethnicity in the US and voting intentions in the UK/US please browse our extensive selection of data packs available in the Insight Store.

Via the PRO platforms, clients can also apply our social segmentation to our data, looking at the figures for Creators, Passives, Reviewers, Sharers and Socializers.

Other Demographic Indicators

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DEVICE TRENDSTracking engagement via different devices, as well as OS and app usage

5 Around two thirds of mobile internet users are social networkers, with the figures highest in emerging internet markets.

Mobile users are above average for active usage of, and frequent visits to, social networks. Virtually all networking behaviors are also growing via mobiles, reflecting a strengthening mobile-first culture.

Messenger apps enjoyed explosive levels of growth between Q2 and Q4, led by WeChat. This will continue throughout 2014, challenging the popularity of traditional SMS messaging and with the appeal of instantaneous interactions being especially high among younger networkers.

Although the rise of mobile and tablet networking has been one of the most dramatic recent stories within the social media landscape, its important to recognize that in terms of audience size fixed internet connections (e.g. PCs, laptops) still host large social audiences. By Q4 2013, just under two thirds of global internet users were using networking services on a PC a figure which remained pretty stable throughout the whole year and represents an estimated audience size of 974.5 million people. In the same period, usage of micro-blogging services via a PC increased slightly, to reach just over a third of internet users by the years close.

Device usage: strong social engagement via mobiles and tablets

Key Headlines

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Elsewhere, the percentages of mobile- and tablet-internet users connecting to social platforms remained steady throughout 2013 (both standing at around the two-thirds level representing estimated audiences of 401.2 million users via mobile and 286.5 million via tablet).

That these percentages are already comparable with those for PCs/laptops demonstrates just how quickly networking on portable devices has been adopted as a mainstream behavior. In fact, given that the composition of mobile- and tablet-internet audiences is subject to much greater change and evolution than the PC and laptop audience, these adoption rates are particularly impressive.

We can also note that the highest percentages of mobile networkers are found in emerging internet markets (led by Indonesia and Mexico, both at 80%+). The importance of mobile devices in these nations will be a particular driver for this behavior (for further exploration of the mobile-only audience, please see our White Paper dedicated to this subject).

PC

MOBILE

TABLET

USED A MICRO-BLOGGING SERVICE

CHART 14: Social Networking and Micro-blogging by PC, Mobile and Tablet

PC

MOBILE

TABLET

USED A SOCIALNETWORKING SERVICE

Question: You will now see a list of items that represent different activities you can do online. Please indicate which of them you have done in the past month via a PC / Mobile / Tablet. Used a social networking service / Used a Micro-blogging service /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Global internet users aged 16-64

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Across five of the largest social sites, there is a clear correlation between mobile ownership and active usage indicating the importance of mobiles as a facilitator for social networking. As Chart 15 indicates, Android leads for Google+ and iOS tops the figures for Facebook and Twitter.

Mobile networking is also impacting the frequency with which people are visiting sites. If we take Facebook as an example, 56% of all active members say that they visit the site more than once a day. But for active members using iOS or Android, this figure climbs to 63% and 60% respectively.

Clearly, were looking at a social media landscape where large numbers are already mobile-first users who connect on a frequent basis. We have to expect this trend to accelerate in 2014 and beyond and, although connecting via a PC will not be abandoned, the dominance of mobile networking will increase. We discuss the rising frequency of various mobile networking activities in the Top Behaviors section.

Mobile OS: iOS users the most active

Question: Which of the following operating systems run on your mobile phones? /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Global internet users with a mobile phone, aged 16-64

CHART 15: Mobile OS and Active Usage of Social Networks

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The impact of mobile becomes still clearer when we turn our attention to social and messenger apps (Chart 16).

All of the apps tracked in our study saw stable or increasing levels of usage between Q2 and Q4, with Facebook remaining by far the most popular (used by 70% of the mobile/tablet internet audience).

But by far the most striking trend is the rapid increase enjoyed by a number of messenger apps. In terms of estimated user numbers, Line and Kakao Talk both saw growth of about 20%, WhatsApp and Kik Messenger increased by about a third each, Snapchat had a rise of more than 50% and, most dramatically, WeChat recorded an increase in users of more than 375%. In comparison, Facebook Messenger grew its user base by a more modest 13%.

Of course, these figures need to be viewed in context: most of these services currently have relatively small user bases and Facebook Messenger still has more users than any of the others. Nevertheless, the popularity of instant mobile messaging is abundantly clear, offering the type of seamless, instant connectivity that SMS and other messaging formats cannot replicate. We will certainly see further, dramatic growth here during 2014.

Finally, its worth noting the strong increase in estimated user numbers for Instagram (+33%) and Vine (+105%). In addition to their growing popularity being reflective of the wider movement towards less-established social platforms, both saw especially large growth in the youngest age groups. Vine, for example, saw its estimated 16-24 user number shoot up by 135% between Q2 and Q4.

Social Apps: Huge Increases for Messenger Services

Question: Which of the following mobile / tablet applications have you used in the past month? (on any device)Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013Base: Global internet users with a mobile phone and/or tablet, aged 16-64

CHART 16: Usage of Social Apps

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TOP BEHAVIORSThe most popular activities being undertaken on social networks

6 Facebook users are more likely to be doing a wide range of activities than

members of other popular social networks, reflecting the highly engaged nature of the sites audience.

Almost all behaviors are growing on mobiles but declining on PCs/laptops, a

trend in line with the ongoing migration of several online activities from fixed to portable connections and which carries obvious implications for how internet users interact with networks.

As might be expected, activity on the top social networks is dominated by photo-sharing, messaging and posting/commenting all of which are being done by majorities of active Facebook users (and by 40% or more on Google+ and Twitter).

Perhaps most evident from Chart 17 is just how engaged Facebook users are compared to their counterparts on other sites. Across every behavior we track, active Facebook members are more likely to have done them than those on Google+. The same is largely true for Twitter, although it does have a slender lead for asking questions and sharing blog links.

The data also shows stable levels of engagement between Q2 and Q4; on Facebook, for example, the figure for each option represents a change of no more than plus/minus 1% or 2%.

Top Social Activities: Facebook users the most active

Key Headlines

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Question: Thinking about the social media services that you actively use, could you please tell us if you have done any of the following in the past month? (any device) /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Active Facebook, Google+ and Twitter users, aged 16-64

CHART 17: Top Behaviors on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter

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Although the overall figures for various behaviors changed little between Q2 and Q4, quite a different picture emerges when we analyze the data at a device level.

In Chart 18, we focus on the top 15 Facebook behaviors and look at engagement rates across PCs/laptops, mobiles and tablets. Its immediately apparent that activities undertaken via PCs/laptops are suffering a decline with a drop of more than 5% for behaviors such as sharing brand photos, following brand pages and clicking the like button.

In stark contrast, every single option has seen growth via mobile; following a brands page, sharing branded photos and sharing videos all jumped by 15%+, while the numbers engaging with F-commerce via mobile shot up by 20%.

For tablet internet users, the picture is mixed; buying products/services and sharing photos have increased but the overall story is one of little significant change.

Clearly, its mobile networking that is driving the biggest growth here, a situation which is confirmed when we analyze comparable data from other social networks. On Twitter, for example, Q2 to Q4 saw the number of mobile networkers asking questions, posting brand-relevant comments and sharing videos all increase by 20% or more.

That the future of social engagement will be driven particularly strongly by mobile can be in little doubt.

Behaviors by Device: Mobile Rising

Question: Thinking about the social media services that you actively use, could you please tell us if you have done any of the following in the past month via the following devices? /// Source: GlobalWebIndex Q4 2013 /// Base: Active Facebook users aged 16-64

CHART 18: Top Behaviors on Facebook, by Platform

PC

MOBILE

TABLET

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FUTUREOUTLOOK7

Mobile networking will be the area that continues to experience the strongest growth, driven in particular by: increasing levels of smartphone ownership; the tendency to check social networks while on the move; and the strengthening mobile-first mindset. This will be especially prominent in countries with significant mobile-only audiences (see our White Paper dedicated to this subject).

Nevertheless, the percentages using social networks via PCs/laptops and tablets remain sizeable and, although fixed connections will continue to experience a decline, we have to think of a social media landscape where cross-device networking is the norm with people using a variety of devices to conduct their online activities. GWI data also shows that device sharing is common, particularly for tablets something which will promote networking on this device even among those who do not personally own one (for more on device sharing, please see our Data Packs available in the Insight Store).

Rapid growth of instant mobile messaging services is highly likely to persist, fueling expectations about immediacy and causing a blurring of the lines between mobile and social forms of communication.

Having an account on one of the worlds major social networks is likely to become still more of a prerequisite for accessing popular websites and services across the internet. This trend will ensure that account ownership figures remain high and will see active usage figures become more important as a way to measure actual levels of engagement.

With 25-34s already forming the biggest share of active users on several sites, we can expect the age profile of networkers on the most established networks to continue shifting upwards. This will be caused by a combination of factors, including: greater engagement among older age groups; original adopters becoming older; and some sites no longer commanding the type of automatic appeal for teens that they once enjoyed. Indeed, newer or less-established platforms will vie to be the trendy alternative to big players such as Facebook, something which will see the declines in active usage among these younger groups continuing. The big networks will still dominate, though, even if certain demographics use them a little less frequently than they once might have done.

Usage of VPNs and proxy servers is already significant and will become still more so being used not just by people in certain emerging internet markets as a way to access restricted sites but by other internet users keen to browse anonymously and maintain their privacy (by the end of 2013, 56% globally agreed that they were concerned about the internet eroding my personal privacy). And with usage of VPNs causing significant problems in terms of correctly geo-locating respondents, this brings obvious implications for the targeting of advertising on social platforms.

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Jason ManderHead of Trends

E: jason@globalwebindex.net /// O: +44 20 7731 1614A Trendstream Limited, Bedford House, 69-79 Fulham

High Street, London, SW6 3JW, England