Internet community grows by a million members a day

Hootsuite, a leader in social media management, and We Are Social, a global social media creative agency, have released their joint Digital 2019 survey. Now in its eighth edition, the survey, which analyzes digital trends and social media usage across 230 countries and regions, reveals: The number of Internet users is growing by one million new members every day. And 45 percent of the world's population - just under 3.5 billion people a year - log on to their favorite social networks. Compared to the previous year, this represents a 9 percent increase - and this despite society's heightened concerns about fake news, fake followers and data protection in 2018.

"Although social media was viewed more critically in 2018 and user trust declined, people around the world are spending more time on social media. The average daily usage time is now 2 hours and 16 minutes. That's about one-seventh of the time people are awake each day," comments Penny Wilson, CMO at Hootsuite.

"But to get the attention of existing customers, companies need to rethink their social media engagement. Companies need to respect the privacy of their users while creating personal 1:1 relationships through content that is relevant to the target audience and offered at the right time. And they need to do this without losing the originality and authenticity of their brand," says Wilson.

With a majority of active social media users - 3.25 billion people - accessing their social networks via their mobile devices, optimizing content for mobile use is increasingly critical to success. Also to be considered is the fact that the social networks people prefer to use are changing. And the way people engage there is also changing.

Facebook remains the world's most popular social media network: companies can now reach 2.121 billion people around the world with Facebook Ads. And although growth is slowing, Facebook is still expanding its user base. In the last quarter of 2018 alone, Facebook grew by 1.7 percent, or 37 million monthly active users. Instagram, on the other hand, has a smaller user base than Facebook, with an estimated one billion active members, but is growing it faster.

Instagram grew by 4.4 percent, or 38 million active users, in the months from October to December 2018. Twitter and Snapchat's active advertising audiences, on the other hand, fell by 2.7 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Facebook also dominates the market in terms of messaging apps and messaging usage. Facebook's investment in WhatsApp gives it market leadership in 133 countries. Facebook Messenger is number one in 85 countries, including the United States. In China, WeChat is the most popular messaging app.

Global internet and social media usage is also fuelling online retailing. More than 2.8 billion people bought consumer goods over the Internet last year. This represents a 3.1 percent increase over the previous year. 75 percent of Internet users made online purchases last month alone, the majority of them via mobile devices. In total, this leads to e-commerce spending worth USD 1.785 trillion. That is 14 percent more than in the previous year. More and more e-commerce is also taking place via social media, as users enjoy the convenience of shopping directly from their social feed.

The complete "Digital 2019" study by We Are Social and Hootsuite in English can be found at online.