Good News: From texting capital to leader in (Inter)networking

By Riza T. Olchondra

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:58:00 09/20/2008
Source: http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view/20080920-161755/RP-From-texting-capital-to-leader-in-Internetworking

MANILA, Philippines—Yup, we socialize to the max.

The Philippines not only has the reputation as the texting capital of the world, with one billion text messages sent daily, but it also has the highest number of Internet users in the 16 to 64 age group who join social networking groups.

In Universal McCann’s study on social media Wave 3 report, the Philippines had the highest penetration of social networking among Internet users at 83.1 percent, compared with the global average of 57.5 percent.

Social networking is practiced by Web based communities of people who share interests and activities. Users have a variety of ways to interact, such as e-mail, instant messaging services and blogs. Some examples are Multiply, Friendster, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Live Journal and Blogs.

Favorite reading fare

The Philippines also had the second highest incidence of blog-reading among Internet users at 90.3 percent. South Korea topped the blog readership list at 92.1 percent. The global average was 72.8 percent.

All over the world, including the Philippines and South Korea, personal blogs or diary blogs are the favorite reading fare.

About 65.8 percent of Filipino Internet users write blogs, compared with China which topped the survey at 70.3 percent. Globally, 44.8 percent of Internet users blog, mostly about themselves.

Penetration only 15%

This means that Filipinos prefer to read about other people more than write blogs about themselves—but so does the rest of the world.

It must be noted, though, that Internet penetration in the Philippines was relatively low—around 15 percent—compared to cell phone penetration of more than 60 percent. There’s definitely a lot of room for growth.

Still, Universal McCann said its study indicated that blogs and social networks were becoming “mainstream” media and were a valid platform for spreading information.
The study also showed that there was a wealth of opportunities for traditional media publishers as well as advertisers to explore.

But more importantly, it indicated that consumers were no longer passive—they had more control on how they consume content. They also had more ways of telling other people about their views on products, services, people and events.

Universal McCann’s study was undertaken in March 2008 among 17,000 respondents in 29 countries. Those included in the study were Internet users 16 to 54 years old who accessed the World Wide Web every day or every other day. With Inquirer Research