fbpx

The Most Popular Social Networks In South Africa

The Most Popular Social Networks In South Africa

1 of 9

Battle at Kruger. YouTube
Battle at Kruger. YouTube

Most of the top social media networks based out of the United States have seen significant surges in users in South Africa in the last two years, and they aren’t showing signs of slowing down. Research shows that visual content drives most social media traffic, along with networks that allow users to be interactive in real-time. Major brands in the country like Mr Price and Mercedes-Benz have had a lot of success growing their fan base through social networking. Here are the most popular social networks in South Africa.

Source: Webafrica.co.za

thisisafrica.me
thisisafrica.me

Affordable calling apps

While some don’t consider phone call apps to be social networks, their users have a lot of crossover with those of Facebook, Twitter and other major social networks in South Africa, so they’re worth a mention. Nine percent of South Africans are on Skype, another nine percent are on Black Berry Messanger, and an astounding 33 percent are on WhatsApp.

Source: Statista.com

Jorqeq.com/instagram user
Jorqeq.com/instagram user

Instagram

Instagram saw the fastest growth of any social network in South Africa between 2014 and 2015, much of which is attributed to the fact that Facebook—the most popular social network in the country—recently acquired the app, driving some built-in users to it. Instagram has around 2.7 million users in South Africa, and by the end up 2015 was up over 130 percent in popularity in the country since 2014.

Source: Memeburn.com

Pinterest.com
Pinterest.com

Pinterest

Over 28 percent of major brands in South Africa utilize Pinterest to gain a following. The site has over one million users in South Africa, and small businesses are beginning to join to access this huge demographic. The majority of individual Pinterest users in South Africa are middle to upper-class women. Africa makes up twenty-five percent of total Pinterest users, so it could benefit brands around the continent to create profiles on the site.

Sources: Webgrowth.co.za, Smesouthafrica.co.za

itnewsafrica.com
itnewsafrica.com

Google Plus

Google Plus numbers are harder to evaluate than those of most social media platforms since part of the appeal of the platform is privacy, but there are over 460,000 confirmed users in South Africa—that’s over thirty percent of South Africa’s Internet users. Social media analysts say that Google Plus is a niche network in the country, with not as much high-quality content as the likes of YouTube or Facebook.

Sources: Worldwideworx.com, Itweb.co.za

 

 

YouTube

The popular short-form video platform has 8.28 million users in South Africa, and it saw a 53 percent increase in users in the country between 2014 and 2015. Research shows that a lot of South African brands are taking an interest in using the site to promote their product. The most viewed YouTube site in South Africa is Kruger Sightings, which presents wildlife sightings and boasts over 80 million views.

Source: Worldwideworx.com

LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner. Photo: tenscores.com
LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner. Photo: tenscores.com

Linkedin

The professional networking site is the third most popular social networking platform in South Africa. The site saw a huge growth in 2014 when the economy was struggling, unemployment was at a high 25 percent, and people needed every avenue to search for a job. Between 2013 and 2014 the site saw a 40 percent increase in South African users. Since then the growth has slowed, but the site has nearly four million users.

Source: Itwebafrica.com, Worldwideworx.com

blackhistorymonth2014.com
blackhistorymonth2014.com

Twitter

Twitter is the second most popular social network site in South Africa, with over 7 million users in the country, the majority of whom are between the ages of 25 and 44. The largest age demographic of users in the country is slightly older than that one in the United States, where the biggest demographic is between the ages of 25 and 34. Eighty-seven percent of South African Twitter users access the platform through their cell phone and the second most popular medium to use the site is a laptop. Most activity on the site in South Africa happens between 6 and 9 pm during the week and midnight as 7 am during the weekend.

Source: Mybroadband.co.za

Nigeria Is Facebook’s Biggest Market In Africa
Photo: aljazeera.com

Facebook

South African small businesses have capitalized on Facebook’s popularity in the country to communicate further with their customers and build a loyal following. Facebook has nearly 13 million monthly users in South Africa and 7 million users who log on every day. Facebook recently opened its first office in Africa, in Johannesburg. An estimated 5.6 million of South African Facebook users are male, and another 5.6 million are female. Most of the country’s Facebook users access the site through their mobile phone.

Source: Businesstech.co.za