Social media in South Africa: Facebook vs Twitter

World Wide Worx and Ornico has released the 2017 edition of the SA Social Media Landscape, which shows that Facebook remains the dominant social media platform in the country.

Facebook is now used by 14-million South Africans, while YouTube has moved firmly into second place with 8.74-million users.

Twitter rose to 7.7-million users, while LinkedIn maintained its energetic rise, now standing at 5.5-million users.

Instagram also continued to grow at a high rate, increasing by 32% up to 3.5-million users.

One of the most significant trends is that Facebook, with 14-million users, now has 10-million, or 85% of its users, using mobile devices. This is significantly up from or 77% the year before.

While a significant number of these users are also accessing Facebook on computers and tablets, it is clear that the mobile phone has become the primary form of accessing social media.

Here is a summary of the South African user numbers of the major social media platforms.

• Facebook – 14-million users
• YouTube – 8.74 million users
• Twitter – 7.7 million users
• Instagram – 3.5 million users

More on Facebook and Twitter

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