- “In October 2011, 1.2 billion users around the world visited social networking sites, accounting for 82 percent of the world’s [internet] population. Nearly 1 in every 5 minutes spent online around the world is now spent on social networking sites, making Social Networking the most popular content category in engagement worldwide.”
(“Carmela Aquino, “It’s a Social World: A Global Look at Social Networking,” comScore Voices, January 6, 2012)
- Any two people in the world on Facebook are separated by an average of 4.74 “hops,” meaning that for “even the most distant Facebook user in the Siberian tundra or the Peruvian rainforest, a friend of your friend probably knows a friend of their friend.”
(Lars Bakstrom, “Anatomy of Facebook, November 21, 2011)
- 60 Second Marketer contributing writer Nicole Hall took a deep look at the claim that the world has more mobile phones than toothbrushes. Her conclusion is “that there are almost certainly more mobile phone subscriptions than there are toothbrushes on the planet. And, if you make some additional assumptions based on our research, in all likelihood, more people own a mobile phone on the planet than own a toothbrush.”
(Nicole Hall, “Are There REALLY More Mobile Phones Than Toothbrushes?” 60 Second Marketer)
- Globally, “22% of online shoppers made their first online purchases within the past year.”
- Chinese online consumers lead the world with an average of 8.4 purchase online each month. This compares with 5.2 purchases in the US and 4.3 in the UK.
(“Global Multi-Channel Consumer Survey 2011,” PwC)
[photo: “Internet & Tacos,” by lecates, used under a Creative Commons license]
Clearing Customs 