Mobile-First Networks Are Taking Over Social Media Around The World

BI IntelligenceMobile-first social media sites have been riding the mobile wave. These sites have seen huge growth in user numbers recently and are major contenders in the race to become a top global social network.

Three of the world's 10 largest social networks are mobile messaging apps - namely, WhatsApp, LINE, and WeChat. Other contenders like Snapchat and Instagram are centered on photo-sharing apps. And now Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter are becoming mobile-based first and foremost.

In a new report from BI Intelligence, we look at social networks around the world and how the transition to mobile devices has upended the most important sites within the social ecosystem.

Here are a few of the most surprising facts about mobile social usage around the world from our first annual global social media census:

• Asia-Pacific overall has more active social media users than any region, and several Southeast Asian markets are off the charts when it comes to mobile social media activity. Eighty-two percent of Thai smartphone owners access social media daily on their phones.
• Facebook reached 1.16 billion monthly active users at the end of the second quarter this year, and more than seven of out 10 those people accessed the site at least once a month from their mobile devices.
• Twitter is even higher, with more than three-quarters of monthly active users visiting on mobile devices.
• Mobile is going to propel Google+ toward huge growth in several mobile-focused social media markets, including Spain, Singapore, and Japan. Google+ is the fourth most popular smartphone app globally, trailing only Google Maps, Facebook, and YouTube.
• Sixteen percent of LinkedIn's U.S. users access the social site exclusively on mobile. In Turkey and Singapore, 50% of LinkedIn users access on mobile.
• Mobile is coming for video too. YouTube reports that 40% of its monthly global active users access on mobile.
• As noted earlier, three of the world's top 10 social properties are mobile messaging platforms: WhatsApp, LINE, and WeChat.

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In full, the report:

• Provides a census comparing social networks to one another in active audience size
• Examines the nuances of how each of the largest social networks shape up on a global level and where their audiences are coming from
• Posits where the major social networks might next build their audience
• Takes a regional look at how social media usage has developed in the biggest markets, and how behavior is shifting
• Zooms back out to take a broad look at where the biggest social audiences reside