WSI Social Media Strategies

Here is a list of the top 10 South African websites based on monthly visits as ranked by Alexa. You will note that 8 out of the 10 are global websites, with only 2 of the top 10 being local websites.

1. Google.co.za
2. Facebook.com
3. Google.com
4. Yahoo.com
5. Youtube.com
6. Wikipedia.org
7. Twitter.com
8. Blogger.com
9. Gumtree.co.za
10. News24.com

Nine out of the top ten arguably are social related or offer some social media features.

South African 2011 social media stats (source: World Wide Worx):

Twitter

2011 has seen a growth in South African members from 55,000 to 1,1 Mil, so 95% of South Africans on Twitter, joined no longer than a year ago. About 40% of South African Twitter members, use the platform as the source of their daily news – and it is estimated that only 40% are active on the platform. The growth is mostly due to the growing smartphone market.

Facebook

An estimated 4.2 Mil South African Facebook user count towards end of 2011.

LinkedIn

2011 saw an 87% increase in South African membership, passing the 1,1 Mil mark. It is estimated that 10% of this count is made up of company owners.

MXit

In terms of South African members, it remains the largest social network, with more than 10 Mil users in 2011. Under 18′s make up 75% of the membership count.

The 8 top social media platforms in South Africa are (2011):

1. MXit
2. Facebook
3. YouTube
4. Twitter
5. LinkedIn
6. Blogger
7. WordPress
8. Posterous
9. and Tumblr

With the improved broad band infrastructure in South Africa as well as growing mobile market, the future of social media looks promising, to say the least.

Some South African social media stats from 2010:

Below you will find statistics from Hitwise. The graph shows % visitors on Facebook compared to Google and middle March 2010 shows Facebook overtake Google for the first time!

• Afrigator – South African Blog aggregator (sad to say – it has closed down – on 1 Dec 2011).
• Zoopy – Similar to Youtube & Flickr

At WSI, we can assist you to plan and rollout the social media strategy to interact with your South African community.