Facebook.com Ranks as the Most Visited Social Network in Both Markets
Santiago, Chile, March 3, 2011 - Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released results from a study of the most popular online activities in Chile and Argentina. The study found that in both markets, Social Networking now accounts for more than one-quarter of all time spent online, ranking as the top activity in Chile (28.5 percent of total minutes) and the second most popular activity in Argentina (27.8 percent of total minutes). The study also looked at the top social networking destinations in these two markets and found that Facebook maintained a strong lead, reaching 9 out of 10 Internet users in January 2011.
“We have witnessed social networking play an increasingly central role in consumers’ digital lives over the past year,” said Alejandro Fosk, Comscore senior vice president of Latin America for Comscore. “Today, social networking not only reaches a large percentage of online users in Chile and Argentina, but also accounts for a growing share of time spent online. For marketers and advertisers, understanding how and where consumers are choosing to spend their time online is critically important information in increasingly competitive and fast-growing markets.”
Visitors Spending More Time Social Networking, Less Time on Email and Instant Messenger
An analysis of how Internet users in Argentina and Chile spend their time online revealed a shift in behavior toward leisure-oriented content categories. In Argentina, Portals account for the largest share of time spent online in January 2011 at 29 percent, but declined nearly 10 percentage points from the previous year, while Social Networking surged 12.6 percentage points to account for 27.8 percent of Argentineans’ total time online. The Instant Messenger category (down 6.6 percentage points to 19.6 percent of time spent) and Email (down 2.1 percentage points to 7.1 percent of time spent) both witnessed declines as consumers made use of an increasing array of communication methods including Social Networking and mobile devices to stay connected.
Top Categories by Percent of Time SpentJanuary 2011 vs. January 2010Total Audience Argentina, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations*Source: Comscore MMX, Panel-Only Data
Jan-10
Jan-11
Percentage Point Change
Portals
38.6%
29.0%
-9.7
Social Networking
15.2%
27.8%
12.6
Instant Messengers
26.2%
19.6%
-6.6
Entertainment
7.7%
8.1%
0.5
e-mail
9.2%
7.1%
-2.1
*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs
Internet users in Chile displayed trends similar to those in Argentina. In Chile, Social Networking ranked as the top online activity by time spent, accounting for 28.5 percent of total online minutes, up 8.9 percentage points from the previous year, as Portals, Instant Messengers and Email all witnessed a decline in share of minutes. Entertainment sites, which accounted for 10.9 percent of total minutes, gained 1.6 percentage points versus the previous year as online users continued to spend an increasing amount of time consuming entertainment content.
Top Categories by Percent of Time SpentJanuary 2011 vs. January 2010Total Audience Chile, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations*Source: Comscore MMX, Panel-Only Data
28.5%
8.9
34.2%
25.2%
-8.9
26.0%
19.1%
-6.9
9.3%
10.9%
1.6
6.6%
5.4%
-1.2
Facebook Holds Strong Lead in Chile and Argentina
An analysis of the top social networking destinations in Argentina and Chile revealed that Facebook.com was the most popular social networking destination in both markets. In Argentina, 11.3 million visitors age 15+ visited Facebook.com from a home or work location, representing 88 percent of the Argentine online population. In Chile, 6.5 million visitors (approximately 90 percent of the online population) visited Facebook.com in January 2011.
Latin America is also home to some of the most highly penetrated markets for Twitter. In Chile, Twitter.com reached 13.1 percent of all online users (nearly 1 million visitors) to rank 11th globally in terms of reach. In Argentina, Twitter.com reached 12.5 percent of all online users (1.6 million visitors), ranking 13th globally.
Fotolog and Windows Live Profile each ranked among the top 3 social networking sites in both markets, while Sonico, Badoo and Linkedin also held solid positions within the top ten.
Top Social Networking Sites by Unique Visitors January 2011 Total Audience Argentina and Chile, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations*Source: Comscore MMX
Top Properties in Argentina
Top Properties in Chile
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Total Internet Persons: 15+
12,850
7,304
12,431
6,994
Facebook.com
11,345
6,539
Windows Live Profile
3,094
Fotolog.com
1,410
2,006
1,395
Twitter.com
1,610
956
Sonico.com
1,046
Terra Chile Comunidades Sites
589
Badoo.com
824
LinkedIn.com
384
721
379
Metroflog.com
420
362
419
DeviantArt.com
318
388
Myspace
246
About Comscore
Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.