Filipino internet users most engaged in social media: survey

Filipino internet users are the most engaged in social networking online, a leading online audience measurement service said Wednesday.

In a press statement, comScore said the Philippines has the highest social networking usage in the Asia-Pacificregion with more than 90% of its entire Web population visiting a social networking site during the month of February 2010, followed by Australia (89.6% penetration) and Indonesia (88.6% penetration).

"Social networkers in the Philippines also showed the highest level of engagement on social networking sites averaging 5.5 hours per visitor in February, with visitors frequenting the social networking category an average of 26 times during the month," the comScore statement said citing its latest report on social networking activity in the region.

"Strong engagement was also exhibited by Internet users in Indonesia (5.4 hours per visitor and 22 visits per visitor), Australia (3.8 hours per visitor and 20 visits per visitor) and Malaysia (nearly 3.8 hours per visitor and 22 visits per visitor)," the statement added.

Seven Asia-Pacific markets where Facebook is No. 1:

* Australia
* Indonesia
* Malaysia
* Philippines
* Singapore
* New Zealand
* Hong Kong
* Vietnam

Source: comScore

On average, 50.8 % of the total online population in the region visited a social networking site in February 2010, equivalent to a total of 240.3 million visitors.

Facebook.com, meanwhile is the top social networking site 7 Asia-Pacific markets, including the Philippines.

"Local players led in Japan (Mixi.jp) and South Korea (CyWorld), while Google-owned Orkut ranked as the top social networking site in India and Yahoo!’s Wretch.cc led in Taiwan," the statement said.

"While social networking continues to be one of the most popular and fastest growing Web activities in the world, its dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region exhibit significantly more individual market differentiation than in other global regions," comScore executive vice president for Asia Pacific Will Hodgman said.

"In some markets, such as the Philippines, Australia and Indonesia, social networking is one of the most popular Web activities reaching nearly 90 percent of the entire Internet population, while other markets report less PC-based social networking penetration, which can often be attributed to the high propensity to engage in social networking via mobile devices in these markets," it added.

comScore, Inc. is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence.

The report is based on data from comScore's World Metrix service.

The countries included in the report are Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Vietnam, and Japan.