Twitter used by 17 percent of social network users in India: Report

While reporting Twitter in India has clocked a double digit growth rate, a market research firm said the micro-blogging site accounts for only 17 percent of the total social network users in one of the world’s largest Internet markets. According to a report by eMarketer, Japan will boast of the largest Twitter population in Asia Pacific at 26 million, followed by India at 22.2 million users. Last year, the research firm had forecast that India will have 18.1 million Twitter users by 2014. In India, growth this year (2015) is expected to be more than twice as fast, at 30.4 percent. While it shows signs of slowing, it will still climb by 16.5 percent in 2018, the report said. “But the Twitter population in India represents a much smaller share of social network users in the country, at 17 percent and just 8.8 percent of Internet users,” it added. eMarketer said the the low Internet penetration rate in Asia-Pacific’s second-largest country means that overall, just 1.8 percent of the population uses Twitter, which will barely budge in the near future - reaching only 3 percent by 2018. Twitter is also working towards boosting its business and revenues in India by partnering with India’s largest private sector bank and acquiring a Bangalore-based mobile marketing start up. The efforts are part of its strategy to strengthen its platform, especially on mobile devices, and connect brands with customers. Earlier, the research firm projected the micro-blogging site’s rival, Facebook will have more than 100 million users accessing its platform using mobile phones. India will surpass the US to lead the global tally of the largest Facebook user base on mobile by 2017, it had forecast. Recently, Facebook announced that the growing Internet penetration and a large youth population has helped it expand its overall user base in India to 112 million - which is the largest after the US. Of the 112 million users in India, more than 99 million utilise the platform on their mobile phones at least once a month. About 45 million users in India are using their mobile phones every day to connect with their friends on Facebook. PTI