Interesting data crunching from Italy on social network use around the globe. See the map at right and the data below.
Some visible patterns to highlight:
– Facebook has almost colonized Europe and it’s extending its domination with more than 200 millions users
– QQ, leader in China, is the largest social network of the world (300 millions active accounts)
– MySpace lost its leadership everywhere (except in Guam)
– V Kontakte is the most popular in Russian territories
– Orkut is strong in India and Brazil
– Hi5 is still leading in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and other scattered countries such as Portugal, Mongolia, Romania
– Odnoklassniki is strong in some former territories of the Soviet Union
– Maktoob is the most important Arab community/portalOther country specific social networks:
– Iwiw in Hungary
– Nasza-klasa in Poland
– Cyworld in South Korea
– Friendster in Philippines
– Hives in Netherlands
– Lidé in Czech Republic
– Mixi in Japan
– One in Latvia and Lithuania
– Wretch in Taiwan
– Zing in Vietnam
I can attest that in Korea they all use CyWorld and don’t even know the names of anything else. Hell, even with something so seemingly international as Youtube, at least half of my middle schoolers there had never even heard of it.