Social Media Mapping in Europe: Continuing the trend of Facebook (EDELMAN)

Over here in Europe we come across good data all the time about social media use and trends, so we thought it would be interesting topresent the best bits in a map of the region. The first thing to strike us was the growing dominance of Facebook as the most popular social network in thevast majority of countries surveyed.  12 months ago the picture was quite different, but today Russia’s V Kontakte, Poland’s Nasza-klasa and Dutch Hyves are the only remaining local networks to make it on to the map. So why is Facebook so strong? In my view, its versatility is an important factor. People of all ages and backgrounds feel comfortable managing their relationships in Facebook and have a broad range of options available for entertainment and communication, from videos and photos to the humble wall post. It is in a sense fashion for all ages.

In terms of internet penetration, online activity as predicted has increased with the majority of countries reaching over 75% penetration, again contributing to the growing importance of social media. So what are we doing online? Social networking and video watching continue their rapid growth over the past two years, taking the lead with up to 99% of a population social networking (Portugal) and 91% video watching (Ireland). This corresponds well with the progression of broadband. Never before have we been able to access richer content (video, audio and imagery) as quickly or as easily. Reading and writing blogs are still viable with the map clearly indicating their presence in all countries analysed, but it is video and social networking which are increasingly the focus.

Beyond the map itself, thanks to our primary data source comScore we also investigated the top three social networks for each country featured. This enabled us to identify players on the rise such as Twitter, but also those older, established platforms still attracting a significant audience. Despite Facebook’s leadership, country specific sites, for example the German StudiVZ Sites, HI5 in Poland and Spanish Tuenti continue to have large and active memberships. In many cases Facebook beats them by only a slim margin and right across the region, the Windows Live platform continues to be popular. When it comes to video, YouTube and Daily Motion very much lead the way, but lower profile platforms such as Vimeo are certainly popular and well respected for high quality content.

So what should brands be doing? It would appear at first glance that Facebook is the main platform to master in Europe; but as is so often the case, the devil is in the detail. If you delve beneath the surface there is a wealth of active online communities of a size and scale to rival Facebook. Plus, blogging, microblogging, video and photo sharing all remain popular with distinct variations from country to country. It seems that the virtual Europe is as diverse and varied as the actual one and with a versatile strategy offers plenty of opportunities for companies to connect with their customers.


http://edelmandigital.com/2010/11/22/social-media-mapping-in-europe-continuing-the-trend-of-facebook/