Interesting world map of social networks done on Alexa rankings and as found by threebillion. The colour scheme on the map isn’t great (they’ve used the network’s proprietary colours so it’s awash with blues and oranges but there’s a text based list if you follow the link)…
Some notable points:
- MySpace is not as internationally dominant as you might think. Other networks have definite geographical footholds: Orkut in the Indian subcontinent and Brazil, Friendster across SE Asia, CyWorld in Korea, Bebo in Ireland and New Zealand. (The authors speculate that this is because a local dominant network can be difficult to shift because it’s the default but then look at MySpace and Facebook in the UK…?)
- Hi5 has a stronger hold on Central and (parts of) South America and though truly international, this is only via the lead in a bunch of very scattered countries across the globe
- The UK has been given to Facebook due to it’s recent accumulation of scale and continued phenomenal rate of growth. Facebook is also big in Canada (which I knew) and in the Middle East (which I didn’t). It is also stronger internationally than MySpace.
I’m left thinking a couple of things:
- Watch out MySpace, Facebook is a comin’
- Watch out Bolivia, you’re surrounded
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