(Image source – lemonde.fr -Tech Industry News)

Note the great breakouts for regional usage by social networking sites. Let’s use those estimates to calculate aggregate global usage:

MySpace 299 million users / month
Facebook 228 million users / month
Orkut 221 million users / month
Friendster  90 million users / month
Bebo  87 million users / month
Cyworld  74 million users / month
HI5  49 million users / month
Live Journal  ?? million users / month

 So the top 7 social networking sits have just over ONE BILLION regular monthly users. We don’t have enough information to say how much duplication is happening with unique visitors between sites, but it’s looking like almost ¼ of the world’s population is now involved in some type of social network activity. Not that there’s not room for growth – take a look at the big “open” spaces in South Africa, almost all of Africa, much of Eastern Europe and Russia, as well as China.

 I think we can rule out social networking as being a “fad” with this much usage taking place on a monthly basis. The big question remains – “How can my business use social networks to facilitate 1-to-many conversations?” After reviewing the map and statistics above, I believe there’s an even more elementary question that business leaders need to ask – “Knowing what I know now about global social network usage, which platforms should I look at on a regional level to speak with my potential customers where THEY are using social networks?” After that question is answered, the process of communication becomes infinitely more complex – not only do you need to focus your social networking marketing efforts in the applicable language, but on the applicable platforms as well.

 The best advice I can provide you with is to research the social networking sites in regions that apply directly to your business. Learn what is acceptable and what is not from a business marketing perspective on these sites, and create a strategy for your company to embrace each opportunity just a little bit differently.

Matthew Brown, Ecommerce
MarketNet