By Jiayi Wang Arianna -- Jetek Staff
China
The horizontal axis from left to right in the butterfly chart of Chinese social media platforms published by Secondsystem depicts the impact of the media on consumers' thinking. On the other hand, the vertical axis shows how platforms are distributed, from media attributes to social attributes. This graph demonstrates how influential media platforms will be working hard in 2022 to upgrade their content recommendation segments and enhance the effectiveness of their recommendations (Techweb, 2021).
In terms of social networks for chatting, WeChat's monthly activity reached 1.309 billion in the third quarter, up 3.7% year over year, according to Tencent's Q3 2022 financial report. In the third quarter, QQ's monthly activity on mobile terminals increased by 1.0% sequentially and 0.1% annually to 574 million (Sina Technology, 2022).
WeChat has expanded its user base even as the number of Chinese internet users approaches its maximum, making it the country's most popular app. It's also crucial to remember that QQ is a social product that spans the post-1980s, post-1990s, and post-2000s, and it has taken more than 20 years for it to rank among the top apps in the mobile internet wave.
Now let's focus on the life-sharing app Xiaohongshu. Data from Xiaohongshu show that as of November 2021, there were 200 million monthly activities on the platform. One of the few online platforms with a growth rate of over 30% in terms of users is the Xiaohongshu App, whose monthly operational data as of August 2022 climbed by 34% year over year. With a total of 43 million+ sharers, Xiaohongshu currently has over 200 million monthly active users, 72% post-90s and 50% in first and second-tier cities. A male-to-female user ratio of 3:7. Generation Z, new white-collar professionals, urban hipsters, singles, sophisticated mothers, and the fun-loving generation are the six main demographic categories of Xiaohongshu platform users. It's important to note that Xiaohongshu expanded its e-commerce business in 2022. The Community Business Pact, which Xiaohongshu issued in May 2022, further illustrates that the platform will aid brands and retailers in their business endeavors (Fireworks Marketing Insight 03｜One article on China's social media platform in 2022 - Xiaohongshu_Tencent News, 2022).
Sina Weibo has three main content sections: entertainment, social, and hilarious. It has five distinctive features: social, public, real-time, viral, and comprehensive. In June 2022, Sina Weibo had 582 million monthly active users, an average of 252 million daily active users, and 95% of the monthly active users came from mobile devices, according to its September 2022 financial figures. Sina Weibo will also be seriously threatened in 2022. Weibo is finding it more and more challenging to win over users in the face of formidable competitors like Douyin and Kuaishou, who are making waves in short videos and live-streaming tracks (Sina Finance, 2022).
Douyin was first introduced in September 2016 as an audio-entertainment community platform. Since then, it has developed into a social media platform that merges content marketing and sales conversion. It is now the most-suited e-commerce platform in China for quality and efficiency. Douyin had about 809 million users as of the third quarter of 2022, with a DAU of more than 700 million daily active users and a domestic per capita daily usage duration of 140 minutes. The "2022 Kuaishou Annual Data Report" was released by the Kuaishou Big Data Institute on January 17, 2023. It focuses on lifestyle and content preferences changes in 2022 through platform data. It demonstrates the variations and alterations among Kuaishou users in various areas in 2022. By the end of September 2022, 23.5 billion interconnected user pairs were using the Kuaishou app, up 13.4% year over year in terms of average daily active users as of the third quarter of 2022.
The average monthly active users of Bilibili hit 306 million in the second quarter of 2022, up 29% year over year, according to data provided by Bilibili. According to QuestMobile estimates, China's Generation Z will consist of approximately 342 million individuals in 2022, which suggests that one in every two teenagers may be an active Bilibili user (Finance.com, 2022). We can break down the distinguishing features of the Bilibili app into four categories:
The user side is dominated by young people and has a high viscosity and activity level.
The content side has a wealth of UCG output.
The commercialization side, where the business ecology is improving, and cash conversion is becoming more convenient.
The e-commerce side, where Bilibili will gradually complement the brand's real estate channels by opening a live shopping partition and encouraging UP owners and brands to sell goods.
Let's focus on the rest of the world. There are over 4.62 billion social media users worldwide, equal to 58.4% of the world's population. Internet users worldwide spend nearly 2.5 hours a day on social media on average, with usage increasing at a rate of 2 minutes per day, according to the Global Digital Overview 2022 (2022 Overseas Social Media Trends Report: Market Status, Platform Characteristics, and Trends, 2022). The most popular video-based social media platforms are Douyin and Tik Tok; Instagram has surpassed Facebook in second place; WeChat is in fourth position due to China having almost 20% of the world's internet users; and WhatsApp leads the global rankings for user platform popularity.
Australia
As of October 2022, there were 23.6 million internet users in Australia, accounting for a staggering 89% of the country's population, according to a study by the worldwide statistics agency. In Australia, there are 21.45 million people who use social media. 82.7% of Australians use social media and browse the internet for an average of 6 hours and 13 minutes daily. In 2022, there will be 950,000 more active social media users than in 2021, rising at a 4.6% annual pace (Australia Social Media Statistics 2022 | Most Popular Platforms, 2022).
The following graph displays a few of Australia's most widely used social media platforms in 2022. (Note: YouTube was not provided as an answer option in the survey)
This indicates that Facebook will continue to be Australia's most widely used social networking platform in 2022, with 18.12 million people joining. One of the most important markets for Facebook in Australia. With 57.70% of internet users in Australia, Instagram comes in second. In Australia, a sizable majority of Instagram users are under 30. The third place with 32.20% penetration is TikTok. The other two widely used social media platforms in Australia are Twitter (29.50% penetration) and the photo-sharing website Pinterest (28.70% penetration), which are followed by LinkedIn (26.20%), Reddit (a social news aggregator), with a penetration of 22.60%, and Skype (19.30%) (Australia Social Media Statistics 2022 | Most Popular Platforms, 2022).
According to the report, Facebook Messenger, which Meta owns, had a penetration rate of 66.40% among all Australian users, or 15.67 million people. WhatsApp, ranked second on the list with a penetration rate of 38.20%, was the most popular messaging app in Australia in 2022. (9.02 million users). Apple's instant messaging platform, I Message, finished in third with a penetration rate of 35.00%. With 32.50% of users, Snapchat is hugely popular among young people and is in fourth place (Australia Social Media Statistics 2022 | Most Popular Platforms, 2022).
Southeast Asian nations
In 2022, South East Asian nations will overtake other players in the social media sphere. Compared to the US and China, Southeast Asia has more active internet users who log on more frequently. While Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have the most minor mobile usage times of up to 3 hours and 32 minutes, users in the Philippines can spend up to 5 hours and 47 minutes online. In South East Asia, using social media has ingrained itself into daily life; the typical social media user spends about three hours online daily. According to Statista 2022, Facebook accounts for the highest percentage of social media usage in Southeast Asia, with minimum use of 56.4%. YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram come closely behind, with an average usage of 9.19%, 6.73%, and 2.95% each.
Southeast Asia has the highest social media penetration rates, exceeding China (68%) and the global average (58.40%). Malaysia has the highest penetration rate at 91.70%, followed by Singapore (89.50%), the Philippines (82.40%), Thailand (81.20%), Vietnam (78.1%), and Indonesia (68.90%), and the global average (58.40%). It is also necessary to consider South East Asia's recent rise in the social sector. Insider Intelligence claims that three of the world's fastest-growing e-commerce markets are located in Southeast Asia. Singapore topped the list as of the third quarter of 2022 when digital sales increased by 36%. The Philippines and Indonesia both grew 25.9% and 34%, respectively. This demonstrates that Southeast Asia's e-commerce market has enormous growth potential. Shopee is the top e-commerce platform in South East Asia, where e-commerce is particularly promising, with 342.8 million visitors, and the top platform for cross-border exporters with 79.79%. (E-Commerce Industry Research 2022 Cross-Border E-Commerce Development Analysis in Southeast Asia - Report Highlights - FutureWise, 2022)
Japan
Japan will have a population of roughly 125 million people in 2022, according to data from humble-bunny, and the country has a highly developed online culture, with 93% of the population using the internet. As of 2022.9, there were approximately 89 million monthly active users of LINE in the Japanese market, which represents about 71% of the total population; about 65 million monthly active users of YouTube in the Japanese market, which means approximately 52% of the total population; and about 59 million monthly active users of Twitter in the Japanese market (sina_mobile, 2022).
Reference:
2022 Overseas Social Media Trends Report: Market Status, Platform Characteristics, and Trends. (2022, October 7). Zhihu. https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/571213064
Australia Social Media Statistics 2022 | Most Popular Platforms. (2022, December 13). The Global Statistics. https://www.theglobalstatistics.com/australia-social-media-statistics
E-Commerce Industry Research 2022 Cross-border E-Commerce Development Analysis in Southeast Asia - Report Highlights - FutureWise. (2022, August 19). Www.vzkoo.com. https://www.vzkoo.com/read/2022081933db0761ab8dad6cfb3ff48d.html
Finance.com. (2022, September 8). Finance.com. (2022, September 8). Bilibili reports Q2 earnings: Average monthly active users top 300 million, average daily active users up 33% year-over-year. Finance.sina.com.cn. https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/roll/2022-09-08/doc-imqqsmrn8328208.shtml?finpagefr=p_114
Fireworks Marketing Insight 03｜One article on China’s social media platform in 2022 - Xiaohongshu_Tencent News. (2022, October 22). New.qq.com. https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20221022A0133I00
Sina Finance. (2022, June 1). Sina Finance. (2022, June 1). Weibo reports first quarter 2022 earnings. Finance.sina.com.cn. https://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/usstock/c/2022-06-01/doc-imizirau6022250.shtml.
Sina Technology. (2022, November 16). Tencent: 574 million monthly QQ mobile device users in Q3, up 0.1% year-on-year. Finance.sina.com.cn. https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/internet/2022-11-16/doc-imqmmthc4828632.shtml
sina_mobile. (2022, September 8). humble-bunny： Japan’s social media platforms report 2022. Finance.sina.cn. https://finance.sina.cn/tech/2022-09-08/detail-imqqsmrn8211924.d.html
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