Facebook surpasses Orkut to lead as the top social networking site in Brazil

Brazil has always been a particularly social market and currently owns the fifth largest social networking population in the world. But despite the cultural affinity for social media, Facebook adoption had traditionally lagged in the market. That has all changed in the past year, during which the site has tripled in audience size as engagement has grown sevenfold to assume the leadership position in the market.

Facebook assumed the top position in the Brazilian social networking market following a year of exceptional growth, according to comScore. In December 2011, Facebook.com attracted 36.1 million visitors, representing an increase of 192% in the past twelve months, to surpass Orkut as the leading social networking destination in the market.

Selected Social Networking Sites in Brazil by Total Unique Visitors (000), December 2011 (Total Brazil Internet Audience, Age 6+ Home & Work Locations):
Total Internet / Total Audience: 51,759,000 (+15% compared to December 2010)
Social Networking: 47,399,000 (+12%)
1. Facebook.com: 36,098,000 (+192%)
2. Orkut: 34,419,000 (+5%)
3. Windows Live Profile: 13,301,000 (+13%)
4. Twitter.com: 12,499,000 (+40%)
5. Vostu.com: 4,901,000 (+338%)
6. Google Plus: 4,300,000 (-)
7. Tumblr.com: 4,029,000 (+206%)
8. LinkedIn.com: 3,182,000 (-)

Facebook.com saw impressive growth across all major metrics during the past year, including significant increases in audience engagement. In December 2011, an average visitor to Facebook.com spent 4.8 hours on the site, surging from just 37 minutes in December 2010. Visitors consumed an average of 500 pages of content on the site during December (up 655%), and visited the site an average of 27 times during the month (up nearly 163%).

A closer look at visitors to Facebook.com revealed that females averaged more time on the site at 5.3 hours compared to 4.1 hours for males, mirroring a broader global dynamic of females' heavier social networking engagement. People between the ages of 25-34 accounted for the largest share of visitors to Facebook.com at 30.6 percent of the total audience, while visitors age 15-24 averaged the most time on the site at 6.2 hours per visitor in December.

Geographically, visitors from Rio de Janeiro and Distrito Federal displayed the highest levels of engagement with the site averaging 5.1 hours on the site during the month. Visitors from São Paulo accounted for more than one-third of all Facebook.com visitors. (comScore, January 2012)