Facebook is number one in the Philippines
Facebook has long been the market leader in the social media world. Over the past few years, it’s also become a content giant, outperforming traditional media in regards to news reporting and entertainment. But even if you’re clued up about this global phenomenon, you will likely still be surprised at the incredible dominance it has in the Philippines, where it outstrips competing social media services to an incredible extent.
Facebook’s share price has appreciated by 45% year to date
Source: Yahoo Finance
A staggering 99% of the adult Philippine population with internet access has a Facebook account. That blows second-place social media site, YouTube, squarely out of the water. For comparison’s sake, YouTube has around 38% of the connected, adult, population signed up. Instagram has 15%, Twitter 8% and Viber 7%. That’s a huge disparity that demonstrates Facebook’s overwhelming dominance in international markets. As the graphic below shows, this is a worldwide phenomenon.
Back to the Philippines: a new study has shown that Facebook’s popularity is not just about socialising. In-line with trends we’ve seen in the west, more and more people are using the platform as a news site. The recent poll, which was conducted by Social Weather Stations, said that about a fifth of adults in the Philippines (that’s about 13.9 million people) log onto the site for news every day.
That’s an impressive tally which is beaten only by the king of traditional media: television. When it comes to TV, as mush as 60% of the population gets daily news there. But no other type of media can match Facebook’s 21% - radio managed 15% and newspapers a paltry 2%. In a statement, SWS said: “Facebook as a daily news source is more common than radio and newspapers combined, and is second only to television.”
As audiences worldwide continue to “cut cords” and go online, Facebook’s importance as a news source could continue to swell to even more impressive proportions.
Disclosure
Dominion holds Facebook in its Global Trends Ecommerce Fund.
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