Facebook with 250 million users and these users are sharing over 10 billion photos. YouTube is streaming 1.2 billion videos a day, worldwide. The number of worldwide unique visitors of Twitter catapulted from 19 million in March 2009 to 32 million in April 2009 and each day, Twitter users are generating roughly 18 million updates. And according to comScore, social networking penetration rate worldwide was 65% in the month of May 2009, or 734.2 million Internet users across the globe accessing at least one social networking website during the month.
Malaysians love Social Networking too
There are about 16 million Internet users in Malaysia and IDC Research projected Malaysian Internet users will reach 20.4 million by 2012. In March this year, the number of Facebook users in Malaysia surpassed the one million mark. Recently, a brief survey by YouthSays, Malaysia's largest youth community website with over 160,000 members, showed 95% of a total of 900 respondents have Friendster's account, 90% with Facebook and 38% with Twitter (This survey was presented at the recent Malaysian Media Congress 2009).
In Malaysia, the social networking penetration rate was 66.6% in December 2008 (see Table below), behind only to Singapore (74.3%) and South Korea (68%). See Table below.
Social Networking in Asian Countries | |||
---|---|---|---|
Country | % Reach of Social Networking | Average Minutes Per Visitor | Average Visits Per Visitor |
Singapore | 74.3 | 175.6 | 19.1 |
South Korea | 68.0 | 277.8 | 15.1 |
Malaysia | 66.6 | 181.2 | 14.2 |
Hong Kong | 62.8 | 127.7 | 13.7 |
India | 60.3 | 110.4 | 10.4 |
Japan | 50.9 | 72.8 | 9.9 |
Source: comScore World Metric, December 2008 |
In terms of Average Minutes Spent on Social Network(s) Per Visitor, Malaysia ranked second at 181.2 minutes after Korea (277.8 min) and ahead of Singapore (175.6 min), Hong Kong (127.7 min), India (110.4 min) and Japan (72.8 min).
Top Social Networks in Malaysia
Like elsewhere in the world, Facebook and Twitter are the superstars these days in Malaysia. Besides these two, what are the other popular social networks Malaysians spending their time these days? Alexa and Google Ad Planner can provide some answers. Alexa Traffic Rank measures website popularity and calculated using average daily visitors and pageviews over the past three months whereas Google Ad Planner is "based on an automated analysis of millions of search queries and site visits" and Unique Visitors refer to number of people visiting the site over a specific month.
Based on the Table below, Facebook is the top social network in Malaysia, followed by YouTube and Friendster. Twitter is the 8th most popular social network in Malaysia.
Top 10 Social Networks in Malaysia | |||
---|---|---|---|
No. | Social Network | Alexa Traffic Rank in Malaysia, as of July 28 2009 |
Google Ad Planner's Unique Visitors from Malaysia, as of July 28 2009 |
1 | 3 | 6,200,000 | |
2 | YouTube | 4 | not available |
3 | Friendster | 8 | 4,200,000 |
4 | MySpace | 11 | 2,100,000 |
5 | Tagged | 12 | 1,800,000 |
6 | Flickr | 29 | 1,500,000 |
7 | Photobucket | 34 | 1,300,000 |
8 | 38 | 750,000 | |
9 | Metacafe | 48 | 910,000 |
10 | Ning | 82 | 690,000 |
Sources: Alexa and Google Ad Planner, 2009 |
Top Malaysian Social Networks
Despite the phenomenal popularity of Facebook, etc., there are a handful of Malaysian social networks offering localized contents and services. Some of the notable local social networks are Ruumz, eKawan, GoEatOut, Circles99, FriendX, eMeiMei and Pacmee.
So, how popular are these social networks? For a starter, these social networks are nowhere near global social network brands like Facebook and Friendster, in terms of Malaysian users. Launched in February 2009, Ruumz is today's most popular Malaysia social network, followed by eKawan (social network for Malay-speaking community) and GoEatOut (dining guide-cum-social network). See Table below.
Top Malaysian Social Networks | |||
---|---|---|---|
No. | Social Network | Alexa Traffic Rank in Malaysia, as of July 28 2009 |
Google Ad Planner's Unique Visitors from Malaysia, as of July 28 2009 |
1 | Ruumz | 1,687 | 36,000 |
2 | eKawan | 2,045 | 32,000 |
3 | GoEatOut | 2,666 | 22,000 |
4 | Circles99 | 3,660 | 9,300* |
5 | Pacmee | 19,444 | 7,700* |
6 | eMeiMei | 21,360 | 7,000* |
7 | Friendx | 22,971 | not available |
* refers to total worldwide Unique Visitors Source: comScore World Metric, July 2009 |
Discussion
Facebook is replacing Friendster as Malaysian top social network; Facebook outranked Friendster in Alexa and also, Facebook with more unique visitors from Malaysia compared Friendster (Google Ad Planner). However, according to a Friendster Summary Fact Sheet posted on TechCrunch, the social network boasted a total of 2.1 million active users in Malaysia compared to 1.1 million Facebook users in Malaysia.
Malaysians are using global social networks like Facebook, MySpace and Friendster compared to local social networks. Only a few countries are dominated by homegrown social networks, namely Mixi in Japan, Cyworld in Korea, QiQi in China, Cloob in Iran, Maktoob in Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Dubai, Kuwait), StudiVZ in Germany, Hyves in The Netherlands, iWiW in Hungary, Nasza-Klasa in Poland, and Vkontakte.ru in Russia.
How do these local social networks compete? Sites like Pacmee, Friendx, eKawan and eMeiMei tied its social networks to mobile services and deliver value-added services e.g. posting photo via MM and receive status updates via SMS.
Ruumz offers different blend of value-added services on its social network. For example, online music subscription, photo printing and photobook services. With its unique brand positioning and services, Ruumz can differentiate itself in the local social networking scene.
But will it be able to dent Facebook's armor? Quite unlikely in short-term. Rather than competing head-on with the social network giants, local social networks can thrive by offering different social networking experiences. Facebook and Friendster, for example, are typically broad-based type social network and offer culturally relevant experience is probably not their strong suit. Herein lies the opportunity for Malaysian social networks.
And maybe Malaysian social networks can learn something from the ascendancy of Old Town White Coffee, a Malaysian-based coffee chain. Amidst the crowded marketplace dominated by global brands like Starbucks and Coffee Beans, Old Town able to differentiate its offerings and capture marketshare in Malaysia (and elsewhere in Asia).
Conclusion
This article offers a snapshot of social networking activities and the popular social networks in Malaysia. The leading social networks are Facebook, YouTube and Friendster whereas top Malaysian social networks are Ruumz, eKawan and GoEatOut. Local social networks provide diversity in the social networking landscape and offer choices to Malaysians. Possibly, local players can eventually offer more culturally relevant social networking experiences with localized contents and services.