A look at Facebook by the numbers

Facebook is the dominant social network in 11 of 12 key global markets surveyed by Nielsen. 

|
Reuters
Facebook done growing? Hardly.

With its much-ballyhooed IPO, Facebook remains the most popular social network in the world, outstripping all competitors in almost every key market. So say the folks at Nielsen, who yesterday released a new (and fascinating) batch of Facebook statistics. Among the findings: In the US, 69 percent of active Web users – or 152 million people – visit Facebook at least once a month. 

In Brazil, where once Orkut was king, a whopping 76 percent of Web users – or 38 million people – regularly use the social network. In Italy, the number is 70 percent. In New Zealand, it's 79. The numbers, reps for Nielsen wrote, underscore "Facebook’s transcendence of borders around the world – and on the world wide web." In fact, in the 12 markets surveyed by Nielsen, there's only one place Facebook is not dominant: Japan

According to Nielsen, in Japan "blog sites are more popular in the social media category," and Facebook is fifth, not first, in the social media category. (Facebook is blocked in China for the foreseeable future.) 

As we noted the other day, a new AP/CNBC poll reveals that 43 percent of Americans think Facebook will be successful over the long term, while a full 46 percent think Facebook will "fade away as new things come along." It's possible, of course, that Facebook will eventually get knocked off the leader-board. But considering the tight grip Facebook currently holds on the global market, that "fade" is probably not going to happen anytime soon. 

Still, Facebook still must address one key challenge: Translating all those eyeballs, here and abroad, into advertising cash. Reps for the social network have been touting the precise and wide-reaching power of Facebook as an advertising platform – it's a key part of the pre-IPO pitch to investors. Yesterday, however, came the news that General Motors was pulling its advertisements from Facebook. 

The reason? Facebook wasn't helping GM sell cars. More on that development here. And for more tech news, follow us on Twitter @venturenaut

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to A look at Facebook by the numbers
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/Horizons/2012/0519/A-look-at-Facebook-by-the-numbers
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe