Online Australians are increasing their participation rate in social media at a rapid rate, with content sharing the most popular social media activity, according to findings from Nielsen's 2010 Social Media Report, released today. Facebook dominates online social networking, Twitter records strongest growth in social media usage and mobile social networking is gaining traction.

The report, which tracks Internet users’ social media usage, found that close to four in five Australian Internet users (78%) sent or shared a photo in the past year and nearly three quarters (74%) sent or shared a link. The biggest increases in social media usage were reading and posting on Twitter, reading wikis and engaging with brands and organisations via social media, including watching online video to support purchase decisions.

Twitter’s audience levels grew by more than 400% in 2009 and nearly one quarter of online Australians (23%) read ‘tweets’ in the past year, 14 percent ‘followed’ companies or organisations via Twitter (up from 5% in 2008) and 13 percent posted ‘tweets’ (up from 4% in 2008). Wikis continued to grow as a popular form of online content – close to three quarters of Australian Internet users (73%) read a wiki in the past year compared to 61 percent in 2008 and just 37 percent in 2007. Nearly two in five online Australians are now interacting with companies via social networking sites, reinforcing notions that Australians are open to engaging with brands and companies online.

“The opportunities for brands and companies to tap into the social media phenomenon are really just beginning to emerge and to date we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg,” states Melanie Ingrey, Research Director for Nielsen’s online business. “Incredibly, nearly nine in ten Australian Internet users (86%) are looking to their fellow Internet users for opinions and information about products, services and brands, and Australians’ engagement with online word of mouth communication is going to increase in coming years as social media plays an increasingly important role in consumer decision making.”

Social networking on sites such as Facebook was a key driver in Australians’ trial and uptake of social media. Close to three in four online Australians (73%) have looked at others’ profiles on social networks and well over one third (37%) of these report to be interacting with others via social networking sites on a daily basis. Facebook dominates the online social networking space, with three quarters of Australian Internet users (75%) reporting to have visited Facebook (see chart 2), 59 percent have a Facebook profile, and the average time spent on Facebook in a given month is 8:19 hours – seven and a half hours more than its closest rival site, YouTube. Moreover, 83 percent of social networkers name Facebook as their main social networking platform, up from 72 percent in 2008 and 34 percent in 2007.

“For now, the battle of the social networking sites has clearly been won, and Facebook has proven its dominance by providing valuable and compelling content that has users spending more than eight hours a month on the site,” observes Ingrey. “These days, any Australian who cares to participate in online social networking, from 14 to 60 years old, has almost certainly been on Facebook. But looking to the future, who knows what evolution could take place in this space, and it’s certainly possible that Facebook could be usurped by another social networking star.”

The rise in Smartphone ownership (43% of online Australians now own a Smartphone*) and relaxed download caps on mobile phone plans has seen mobile social networking gain traction in the past year. Nielsen’s report found that over one quarter of social networkers (26%) participated in mobile social networking in the past year, with younger consumers the most likely to participate in social networking via mobile – 66 percent of mobile social networkers are under 35 years of age. Facebook is the most popular social networking site accessed via a mobile (92% of mobile social networkers have visited Facebook), followed by YouTube and Twitter (18%) and MySpace (9%). However, Twitter sees the most frequent mobile usage, with half of its mobile users visiting the site daily. In comparison, Facebook saw 36 percent of its mobile users visit the site daily, while 22 percent of MySpace users and 16 percent of YouTube users were making daily visits.

* Source: Nielsen 2010 Internet & Technology Report

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit www.nielsen.com.

» Story on Analyst Firm Website

comments powered by Disqus