Part IV Global Social: Canada, Singapore, NZ, Indonesia

How do social media styles differ around the world?

This is Part IV, the last part, of JC Giraldo‘s and my blog series where we try to provide answers to this question by surveying our world-wide networks.

Note: We make no claim that the results of our informal survey are statistically relevant but they represent insights from people who use social media regularly for business.

We asked the following questions:

1. In your country (or region or culture, if you prefer), how does the majority of people view social media?
2. What would you say is a unique characteristic about social media usage in your culture?

THE RESULTS PART IV

CANADA

Chantal Bechervaise, Senior Human Resources Assistant at Privy Council Office and HootSuite Ambassador

1.- It’s hard to find a lot of statistics on Canada and social media usage.

• From gathering information and doing a bit of digging I have discovered that Canadians do indeed love their social media and internet usage. I am a heavy social media user myself. (My family is always joking that I am online talking to my imaginary friends.)
• In terms of engagement, Canada ranks as one of the top 3 countries around the world. Canadians use on average, 41 hours per month online on their computers. In a recent study conducted by Media Technology Monitor, 2 out of 3 Canadians use some sort of Social Media network.
• Businesses in Canada are also open to social media.
• The top three Canadian social networking sites are Facebook, Twitter and then LinkedIn. Facebook is the most popular among Canadians. The second most popular is Twitter. It will be interesting to also see how Pinterest, Vine, Google+ and other social sites begin to rank as more statistics become available.

2.- Canadians appear to love their technology and ability to connect and engage.

• I think that our usage will continue to increase. It was just announced this week that Parks Canada will be setting up 15-20 wireless hot spots in our national parks as part of a trial run, and hopes to have 75 in the next three years. It is becoming more and more en-grained into our culture and it is here to stay.
  

SINGAPORE

Avtar Ram Singh, Digital Marketing Manager at Circus Social, Ogilvy & Mather

1.- With internet penetration at 73%, the internet and social media is a way of life in Singapore.

• To drive home that fact, consider this: 3.2 million of the 3.9 million people on the internet have an active Facebook account.
• Mobile internet penetration is at 64% as well, and on average, mobile internet users spend 2 hours using mobile internet each day. Around 96% of internet users in Singapore have a social media account in some shape or form.
• Due to the high cost of traditional marketing in Singapore, a lot of brands have shifted to social media in the last few years and have started to build a presence. Most, if not all, retail stores have a presence on social media with a fairly active following.

2.- There are two things that surprise me:

• The first, is how high the Facebook usage in Singapore is, and second, how low the Pinterest usage in Singapore is.
• Less than 100,000 Singaporeans have a Pinterest account, and for a country that’s fashion obsessed – that’s a little strange.
• The second thing though – is how much content Singaporeans consume on a daily basis. Trains, buses, standing in queues, having lunch alone – 4 out of 5 people will be on their phones, either watching a soap, scrolling through their news feed or talking to friends.

NEW ZEALAND

Lillian Leon, Copywriter, Social Media and Online Marketing at The Online Marketing Rookie

1.- In New Zealand, businesses are aware they should be on social mediasomehow.

• But businesses still don’t really understand how it works for ROI.
• Some larger and entrepreneurial companies are using social media well, but not many. Slowly, we’re getting there.
• We use Facebook most, but Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest are gaining popularity.

2.- Unique characteristic?

• Probably that New Zealander‘s are not outspoken people, so we tend not to vent our opinions on social media.

• Social media is used more for connecting with others.

INDONESIA

Vicky Iskandar, Social Media Consultant at Temptu

1.- The number of people who are online in Indonesia are over 79 million in 2014 ( over 30% of the population). This sounds low in terms of % but significant when you take into account that Indonesia’s the fourth most populated country in the world with over 250 million people.

• Indonesians view social media as entertainment and they truly love to socialize .
• They’re the 3rd most active tweeters (via @conradhackett).
• They see twitter as a platform where they can chat and connect with their favorite brands and local celebrities. It’s pretty easy for a local celebrity to gain quick followings.

2.- Mobile plays a majority part in social media usage as smartphones and data packagesare more affordable and readily available compared to desktop access.