The number of Facebook and Twitter users in South Africa

The number of Facebook users in South Africa grew from 13 million in 2015 to 14 million in 2016.

Twitter’s growth has slowed dramatically, growing from 7.4 million to 7.7 million South African users between 2015 and 2016.

Managing director of World Wide Worx Arthur Goldstuck released these results as part of the 2016 Social Media Landscape report.

Facebook users in South Africa who access the service from mobile devices increased from 10 million in 2015 to 12 million in 2016.

The number of active users on YouTube in South Africa grew from 8.28 million in 2015 to 8.74 million in 2016.

Instagram grew from 2.68 million users to 3.5 million between 2015 and 2016.

This makes Instagram the fastest-growing social network in South Africa, while Twitter’s growth is the slowest.

Engagement

Engagement on Facebook and Twitter has also increased between 2015 and 2016, said Goldstuck.

On average, the number of likes per post grew from 80 to 108.

The average number of comments per post increased from 10 to 12, and, on average, posts are shared more – growing from 6 to 11 shares per post.

Brands also started posting more frequently, with the average number of posts per day increasing from 5.3 to 5.7.

Engagement on Twitter also increased, with the average number of retweets per post increasing from 4 to 6, and the average number of favourites growing from 1.3 to 4.

Across Facebook and Twitter, response time from brands has improved.

The average response time of South African brands has gone down from 8.5 hours to 7 hours. Twitter response time has decreased from 8.5 hours to 4.7 hours.

More on Facebook and Twitter

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