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Social Networking and UGC
Half of all Canadians and the majority of online Canadians (60%) now have a social networking profile, according to Ipsos' Canadian Interactive Reid Report special feature on Social Networking.
Social networking is no longer the exclusive domain of youth. While younger online Canadians aged 18 to 34 years (86%) are the most likely to have a social networking profile, other age groups are not getting left behind, as a majority (62%) of those aged 35 to 54 now have profiles and a good portion (43%) of those 55 years and older have one too.
While the number of Canadians with a social networking profile has only increased by 4 percentage points in the last two years, what is more significant is the dramatic increase in the frequency in which they are using social networks. Nearly half of online Canadians (45%) are now visiting a social networking site at least once a week, and 30% visit daily, which compares to 35% who were visiting weekly, and 19% who were visiting daily this time last year. Momentum continues to grow as well, as 32% of those who have an online profile admit they are using it more than last year vs. 15% who say they are using it less (53% say their usage is the same).
Females have really taken to social networking as females tend to visit social networking sites more frequently than their male counterparts. Online Canadian women are much more likely to visit a social networking site at least once a day than men (37% compared to 24% of men).
In Canada, Facebook remains the dominant player in social networking. The vast majority (86%) of Canadian social networkers has a social networking profile with Facebook, a proportion that has remained relatively unchanged since 2009 (85%). But Facebook's dominance may be challenged from the significant growth of both Twitter and LinkedIn over the past year. During that same period, the number of Canadians with a profile on Twitter has grown exponentially from almost none (<1%) in 2009 to 10% last year, and 19% today. The proportion with a profile on the professional social networking site LinkedIn has more than doubled during the same period from 6% in 2009 to 14% today.
Also significant is the finding that nearly half (48%) of Canadians with social networking profiles ‘like' or ‘follow' at least one brand or company through their social networking site. And of those who follow at least one brand, the number of brands followed averages 6.7. (Ipsos, July 2011)
Canadians age 55 and up were the largest drivers of social networking growth in the country during 2010, according to comScore. The report indicates between Q4 2009 and Q4 2010, Canadians age 55-64 experienced 36% growth in unique social networking visitors and 48% growth in total social networking visits.
Social media growth in Canada (users by age; % change from 2009), Q4 2009 vs Q4 2010:
- Age 2-17: 17% (-18% change in visits / -9% change in unique visitors)
- Age 18-24: 10% (-7% / -1%)
- Age 25-34: 19% (+15% / +14%)
- Age 35-44: 19% (+15% / +12%)
- Age 45-54: 17% (+15% / +15%)
- Age 55-64: 12% (+48% / +36%)
- Age 65+: 6% (+45% / +34%)
Similarly, Canadians age 65 and older reported 36% growth in unique social networking visitors and 48% growth in total visits. Canadians 55 and up represent a combined 18% share of total social networkers.
In contrast, social networking actually declined among Canada's youngest consumers in the same time period. Canadians age 2-17 reported 9% fewer unique visitors and an 18% reduction in total visits.
Meanwhile, Canadians age 18-24 reported a 1% drop in unique social networking visitors and 7% reduction in total visits. Social networkers age 2-24 represent 27% of the total social networking population. Canadians between the ages of 25 and 54 reported moderate growth in both categories. In terms of share of social networking usage, consumers in this age range account for a total of 55% of Canadian social networkers.
Looking at overall Canadian usage of "conversational media" (social networking sites and blogs), the report indicates social networking usage increased 13% between Q4 2009 and Q4 2010, growing from about 21 million to 24 million unique visitors. In the same period, unique Canadian blog visitors increased 9%, from a little more than 16 million to almost 18 million.
Facebook is the clear leader among Canadian conversational media sites in terms of unique visitors. With more than 20 million in Q4 2010, Facebook more than doubled the unique visitors of second-place Blogger, which reported about 10 million. Facebook increased its unique visitors by 7% but saw its total minutes drop 4%.
Eleventh-place MySpace performed the most poorly year-over-year in terms of loss rates for both unique visitors (-42%) and total minutes (-76%). (Marketing Charts, March 2011)
The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) is branching out further in social media by establishing new channels for the Brazil market in Portuguese.
Brazilians are well known as being technically savvy and have a growing appetite for travel to Canada. The commission aims to build a travel community using the big four social-media channels-Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.
Twitter is growing fast in this market, even faster than in the US in 2009. A CTC presence on Orkut, Google's social networking space, is also slated for the near future. Orkut dominates in Brazil despite a lower profile in the northern hemisphere, with latest figures showing 48% of its user based in Brazil. Similar to Facebook, Orkut allows users to share photos and join groups.
The new channels will have specific offers for the Brazil market, targeting key local influencers to help spread the word about Canada travel by sharing compelling content and videos. The move into Portuguese follows a similar path used in the French, German and Mexican (Spanish) markets. (Canadian Tourism Commission, November 2010)
Canada boasts some of the world's highest internet penetration and social networking usage rates. Social network users view social media as their online home-a hub for communication, entertainment and information. By year's end, eMarketer estimates that about 15.1 million internet users in Canada will have visited social networking sites at least monthly, up from 13.6 million in 2009. Penetration will rise from 59% of the internet audience this year to 68% by 2014, when 18.4 million people in Canada will be socializing online at least once a month.
Social network users in Canada, 2008-2014:
- 2008: 11.4 million (46% of internet users)
- 2009: 13.6 million (54%)
- 2010: 15.1 million (59%)
- 2011: 16.1 million (62%)
- 2012: 16.9 million (64%)
- 2013: 17.7 million (66%)
- 2014: 18.4 million (68%)
As in the US, Facebook is far and away the top social networking site in the country, with Twitter coming in third by unique monthly visitors, according to comScore. (eMarketer, November 2010)
Experian Hitwise revealed the top social networking websites in Canada for the week ending May 22 2010, by visits.
Top social networking websites for the industry "Computers and Internet - Social Networking and Forums" in Canada, ranked by visits for the week ending May 22 2010:
1. Facebook: 63.22%
2. YouTube: 20.37%
3. Windows Live Home: 1.19%
4. Tagged: 0.82%
5. Yahoo! Answers: 0.74%
6. Twitter: 0.67%
7. MySpace: 0.56%
8. Club Penguin: 0.42%
9. badoo: 0.38%
10. Orkut: 0.36%
(Experian Hitwise, May 2010)
Half of all Canadians and the majority of online Canadians (60%) now have a social networking profile, according to Ipsos' Canadian Interactive Reid Report special feature on Social Networking.
Social networking is no longer the exclusive domain of youth. While younger online Canadians aged 18 to 34 years (86%) are the most likely to have a social networking profile, other age groups are not getting left behind, as a majority (62%) of those aged 35 to 54 now have profiles and a good portion (43%) of those 55 years and older have one too.
While the number of Canadians with a social networking profile has only increased by 4 percentage points in the last two years, what is more significant is the dramatic increase in the frequency in which they are using social networks. Nearly half of online Canadians (45%) are now visiting a social networking site at least once a week, and 30% visit daily, which compares to 35% who were visiting weekly, and 19% who were visiting daily this time last year. Momentum continues to grow as well, as 32% of those who have an online profile admit they are using it more than last year vs. 15% who say they are using it less (53% say their usage is the same).
Females have really taken to social networking as females tend to visit social networking sites more frequently than their male counterparts. Online Canadian women are much more likely to visit a social networking site at least once a day than men (37% compared to 24% of men).
In Canada, Facebook remains the dominant player in social networking. The vast majority (86%) of Canadian social networkers has a social networking profile with Facebook, a proportion that has remained relatively unchanged since 2009 (85%). But Facebook's dominance may be challenged from the significant growth of both Twitter and LinkedIn over the past year. During that same period, the number of Canadians with a profile on Twitter has grown exponentially from almost none (<1%) in 2009 to 10% last year, and 19% today. The proportion with a profile on the professional social networking site LinkedIn has more than doubled during the same period from 6% in 2009 to 14% today.
Also significant is the finding that nearly half (48%) of Canadians with social networking profiles ‘like' or ‘follow' at least one brand or company through their social networking site. And of those who follow at least one brand, the number of brands followed averages 6.7. (Ipsos, July 2011)
Canadians age 55 and up were the largest drivers of social networking growth in the country during 2010, according to comScore. The report indicates between Q4 2009 and Q4 2010, Canadians age 55-64 experienced 36% growth in unique social networking visitors and 48% growth in total social networking visits.
Social media growth in Canada (users by age; % change from 2009), Q4 2009 vs Q4 2010:
- Age 2-17: 17% (-18% change in visits / -9% change in unique visitors)
- Age 18-24: 10% (-7% / -1%)
- Age 25-34: 19% (+15% / +14%)
- Age 35-44: 19% (+15% / +12%)
- Age 45-54: 17% (+15% / +15%)
- Age 55-64: 12% (+48% / +36%)
- Age 65+: 6% (+45% / +34%)
Similarly, Canadians age 65 and older reported 36% growth in unique social networking visitors and 48% growth in total visits. Canadians 55 and up represent a combined 18% share of total social networkers.
In contrast, social networking actually declined among Canada's youngest consumers in the same time period. Canadians age 2-17 reported 9% fewer unique visitors and an 18% reduction in total visits.
Meanwhile, Canadians age 18-24 reported a 1% drop in unique social networking visitors and 7% reduction in total visits. Social networkers age 2-24 represent 27% of the total social networking population. Canadians between the ages of 25 and 54 reported moderate growth in both categories. In terms of share of social networking usage, consumers in this age range account for a total of 55% of Canadian social networkers.
Looking at overall Canadian usage of "conversational media" (social networking sites and blogs), the report indicates social networking usage increased 13% between Q4 2009 and Q4 2010, growing from about 21 million to 24 million unique visitors. In the same period, unique Canadian blog visitors increased 9%, from a little more than 16 million to almost 18 million.
Facebook is the clear leader among Canadian conversational media sites in terms of unique visitors. With more than 20 million in Q4 2010, Facebook more than doubled the unique visitors of second-place Blogger, which reported about 10 million. Facebook increased its unique visitors by 7% but saw its total minutes drop 4%.
Eleventh-place MySpace performed the most poorly year-over-year in terms of loss rates for both unique visitors (-42%) and total minutes (-76%). (Marketing Charts, March 2011)
The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) is branching out further in social media by establishing new channels for the Brazil market in Portuguese.
Brazilians are well known as being technically savvy and have a growing appetite for travel to Canada. The commission aims to build a travel community using the big four social-media channels-Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.
Twitter is growing fast in this market, even faster than in the US in 2009. A CTC presence on Orkut, Google's social networking space, is also slated for the near future. Orkut dominates in Brazil despite a lower profile in the northern hemisphere, with latest figures showing 48% of its user based in Brazil. Similar to Facebook, Orkut allows users to share photos and join groups.
The new channels will have specific offers for the Brazil market, targeting key local influencers to help spread the word about Canada travel by sharing compelling content and videos. The move into Portuguese follows a similar path used in the French, German and Mexican (Spanish) markets. (Canadian Tourism Commission, November 2010)
Canada boasts some of the world's highest internet penetration and social networking usage rates. Social network users view social media as their online home-a hub for communication, entertainment and information. By year's end, eMarketer estimates that about 15.1 million internet users in Canada will have visited social networking sites at least monthly, up from 13.6 million in 2009. Penetration will rise from 59% of the internet audience this year to 68% by 2014, when 18.4 million people in Canada will be socializing online at least once a month.
Social network users in Canada, 2008-2014:
- 2008: 11.4 million (46% of internet users)
- 2009: 13.6 million (54%)
- 2010: 15.1 million (59%)
- 2011: 16.1 million (62%)
- 2012: 16.9 million (64%)
- 2013: 17.7 million (66%)
- 2014: 18.4 million (68%)
As in the US, Facebook is far and away the top social networking site in the country, with Twitter coming in third by unique monthly visitors, according to comScore. (eMarketer, November 2010)
Experian Hitwise revealed the top social networking websites in Canada for the week ending May 22 2010, by visits.
Top social networking websites for the industry "Computers and Internet - Social Networking and Forums" in Canada, ranked by visits for the week ending May 22 2010:
1. Facebook: 63.22%
2. YouTube: 20.37%
3. Windows Live Home: 1.19%
4. Tagged: 0.82%
5. Yahoo! Answers: 0.74%
6. Twitter: 0.67%
7. MySpace: 0.56%
8. Club Penguin: 0.42%
9. badoo: 0.38%
10. Orkut: 0.36%
(Experian Hitwise, May 2010)
Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 April 2013 10:29
