The Population of the users in the world of social networking services will exceed 900 million people in 2010 and will be doubled to 1.85 billion people by 2015.
Social networking service is no longer a personal communication medium, but also business. Research firm Gartner Inc. estimates that by 2014 about 20 percent of employees in the world no longer use email to conduct business communication, but using social networking.
"Social networking started threatening emails because of the social networking service is able to offer communication functions, including email features, are getting richer," says Gartner Inc. Research Vice President Monica Basso.
Strengthen Gartner estimates, research firm Strategy Analytics Inc., to assess the popularity of social networking services is soaring high in the world. Strategy Analytics estimates, the population of users of social networking services in the world in 2010 will exceed 900 million people.
"In the next five years, global population of users of social networking services like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter will be doubled. As a result, users of social networks in the world in 2015 will reach 1.85 billion people," said Director of Strategy Analytics Digital Media Research Inc. Martin Olausson.
Strategy Analytics explained, the main driver of growth in user population in the world of social networking services is the Asia Pacific region. Strategy Analytics said, in 2009 there was only 40 percent of Internet users in Asia Pacific who use social networking services.
Compared to the population of social networking users in other regions, Strategy Analytics confirms, the population of social networking users in Asia Pacific in 2009 low. Because, Strategy Analytics highlights, in 2009 as much as 60 percent of Internet users in North America and Western Europe already use social networking
"However, in the next five years the population of social networking users in Asia Pacific will far exceed the population of social networking users in North America and Western Europe because the population of social networking users in Asia Pacific grew very rapidly in every year," said Olausson. Despite the promising growth of social networking industry is very high, Gartner warns, the social networking service providers must be clever in doing business in those markets.
Because, Gartner explains, global social networking industry has a very high temperature of the competition. In Gartner's assessment, the main challenge of global social networking industry is the diversity of user profiles. Gartner explained, social networking users in North America has a different motivation than social networking users in Asia Pacific, or even Western Europe.
"The biggest challenge facing the providers of social networking is the Asia Pacific region. The reason, Asia Pacific has a user difersivikasi level much higher than other regions in the world," said Gartner Inc. Research Director Nick Ingelbrecht.
Gartner pointed out, the main driver of growth in social networking services in China, Japan and South Korea is the high interest of consumers against online gaming service. By contrast, Gartner asserts, consumers in India prefers to use social networking service that offers matchmaking features.
In Indonesia, Gartner asserts, consumer interest turns out differently. Because, Gartner rate, consumers in Indonesia are more interested in using social networking services that offer blogging features. Profile of Indonesian consumers, the Gartner rate, similar to the profile of consumers in Singapore and the Philippines. To win the market, Gartner suggests, the social networking service providers must be able to offer features that are aligned with the interests of local consumers. If not, Gartner bodies, is warned, social networking services will certainly not live long.
"The proof is already a lot. Social networking services like Friendster, Cyworld, Mixi, and RenRen had success in the Asia Pacific region. However, the success of social networking services that did not live long," said Ingelbrecht. But in addition to diversity, Gartner said, users of social networking services also proved to have a uniformity.
Gartner survey found, about one-fifth of users of social networking services in the world use social networking to find the information or recommendations before buying anything.
"This survey proves that social networks have shaped the behavior of consumer spending. Because, at this moment there are quite a lot of consumers who rely on the information and recommendations from social networks to select products," said Ingelbrecht.
Gartner asserts, social networking services will be increasingly popular in the world because there are more and more smartphones that supports social networking applications. Manufacturers of telecommunication and data communication systems Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson adds, there are now more than 200 mobile operators in 60 countries in the world that offers social networking features in promoting cellular products.
At the same time, Ericsson found that there are more than 100 million mobile subscribers in the world to enhance access to social networking services using the smartphone.
"As a result, the social networking service over the greater share in mobile data traffic in the world," said President & Chief Executive Officer Hans Vestberg Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson.
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