The number of Internet users across the world keeps growing and growing, and so are the best known social networks in the world, but there are some markets out there where things aren’t going quite the same, such as these 10 countries where both Twitter and Facebook are shrinking.
While the reasons may differ from country to country, it’s true that we’ve noticed in the past few years a tendency for people to try new things, and find new platforms to entertain themselves, especially teenagers and other people in close-by demographics. Some teenagers, for instance, have been moving away from Facebook because their parents use the social network too, and sometimes even their grandparents, which has made it much less “cool” than it once was.
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There are over 3.5 billion Internet users in the world, out of which close to 1.8 billion log onto Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) at least once a month, and close to 1.2 billion do so every day. While Facebook hasn’t released such numbers yet, it’s quite probable that there are a lot more accounts than that, held by people who just aren’t that avid about checking out the social network very often.
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) on the other hand, has only about 317 million monthly users. It’s just a small portion of the number announced by Facebook, but then again, the purpose of both these networks is quite different.
If you’re interested, you can also take a look at the 10 Countries where Twitter is Growing Faster than Facebook.
For today’s list we took a look at the StatCounter Global Stats to get our info about how many of each country’s Internet users visit either Facebook or Twitter. We took into account the months of October 2015 and 2016, looking at the differences between these two months. Then, we looked at those countries where both Facebook and Twitter’s usage was dwindling and where the numbers were the highest. As you’ll see, most of them are losing ground to a couple of sites in particular.
Without further ado here are the 10 countries where both Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) usage is shrinking.
10. Ukraine
Facebook YOY: -6.65%
Twitter YOY: -8.32%
Over the past few months, both Facebook and Twitter have taken a nosedive in popularity among Ukrainian Internet users. If you were wondering, you should know that over 42% of the country’s 42.5 million citizens have access to an Internet connection.
Facebook’s usage has dropped by over 6.6 percentage points in the year ended October 31, while Twitter’s popularity also dwindled by over 8 percentage points in the same period of time.
Although the two popular networks have dropped quite a bit in popularity, VKontakte has gained quite a bit of ground. This isn’t exactly a surprise, since a good portion of the Ukrainian population speaks Russian and then there’s the fact that Crimea is now under Russian governance, which is recognized by several governments of the world. YouTube’s popularity has also grown by a few percentage points in the past quarter. And now, let’s see what else we have on our list of countries where both Twitter and Facebook are shrinking.
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9. Palau
Facebook: -14.94%
Twitter: -1.24%
If you’re not familiar with the Republic of Palau that’s up next in our list of countries where both Twitter and Facebook are shrinking, that’s ok, since it’s a small island country with a population of only about 18,000 people. Here, only about 27% of the residents have an Internet connection. Out of those connected individuals, there are quite a few people who spend their time on social networks, Facebook and Twitter included.
In fact, Facebook usage is well above any other network there, sitting at 74% in October. This number is nearly 15 percentage points below where Facebook stood a year earlier, however. Twitter’s popularity took a small plunge in the past year as well data shows, but then again, only a little under 3% of the country’s Internet users send 140 character messages anyway.
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8. Ethiopia
Facebook: -15.58%
Twitter: -1.21%
Up next in our list of countries where both Twitter and Facebook are shrinking is Ethiopia, that is a country with nearly 100 million citizens. The Internet penetration rate in this African country, however, isn’t all that great. In fact, it is estimated that only about 2% of the Ethiopian people have an Internet connection.
Using social media sites, however, is something that people there seem to enjoy to some extent. When it comes to social networks, 76% of people chose Facebook, while only 1.2% picked Twitter. These numbers were a bit better a year ago, however, as Facebook’s usage dropped by 15 percentage points and Twitter’s by 1.2 percentage points.
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7. Kazakhstan
Facebook: -11.73%
Twitter: -8.41%
Kazakhstan ranks 7th in our list of countries where both Twitter and Facebook are shrinking. It has over 17.7 million citizens, out of which over 54% have access to an Internet connection. Social media sites are some of the most visited in the country, with Facebook once holding the top position. In the past year, however, after dropping by over 11.7 percentage points, Facebook has dropped to the third place at 27.6%. The top two spots are occupied by VKontakte and YouTube. Given the country’s proximity to Russia, it’s no surprise that VKontakte ranks so high among the most popular social networks in Kazakhstan.
Twitter’s numbers aren’t too great, but they used to be better. Instead of the 9.76% usage rate it had in October 2015, in October 2016 it only boasted 1.35% of the country’s population as active users.
6. Azerbaijan
Facebook: -16.35%
Twitter: -16.07%
There are over 9.7 million people living in Azerbaijan, out of which close to 60% have an active Internet connection. In October 2016, over 56% of the people using the Internet chose to visit Facebook, while Twitter was picked by over 2.8%. Twitter’s usage dropped by 16 percentage points in the last year, while Facebook usage fell by the same amount. Had we chosen another month from earlier this year, Facebook’s drop would have been even more significant as in July for instance, the usage rate peaked at over 91%, well over the 72.7% from October 2015.
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5. Armenia
Facebook: -32.6%
Twitter: -1.06%
We are continuing our list of countries where both Twitter and Facebook are shrinking with Armenia which isn’t a large nation, being called home by only some 3 million people. The Internet penetration rate in this Eurasian country is over 46% and people sure love to visit social media sites.
Over the past year, however, YouTube and VKontakte usage has grown quite a bit, while Facebook and Twitter usage has dropped. In fact, the preference for Facebook has dropped by over 32 percentage points to 54.28%. Twitter’s numbers also dropped to 1.13% from 2.19% in October 2015.
As mentioned, the popularity of VKontakte and YouTube has grown a bit. While YouTube is pretty easy to understand, it’s VKontakte’s rise that’s a bit surprising.
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4. Uzbekistan
Facebook: -32.47%
Twitter: -4.28%
Uzbekistan ranks 4th in our list of countries where both Twitter and Facebook are shrinking. It is a rather large country that is home to over 31.5 million people, out of which over 38% have an Internet connection. In the past year, Facebook’s usage has dropped considerably. Starting at 64.5% in October 2015 and peaking at 74.58% in July, the preference for Facebook dropped to 32.09% in October 2016.
Twitter’s usage has also dropped from 5.04% to a mere 1.33% this October. On the other hand, the popularity of YouTube and VKontakte has climbed quite a bit, going up to 30 and 32% respectively.
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3. Kyrgyzstan
Facebook: -44.06%
Twitter: -4.28%
Formerly part of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan, the next one in our list of countries where both Twitter and Facebook are shrinking, is now home to some 6 million people, out of which over 23% have an active Internet connection. Over the past year, Facebook’s popularity took a nosedive, going from 77% to 33% as of October 2016. Twitter also dropped by 4.2 percentage points to 1.6% this year.
At the other end of the line we find YouTube and VKontakte, which climbed impressively. VKontakte’s popularity grew to over 32.5% from 4.75% a year ago. YouTube also became more popular in the past year, going from close to nothing to 30.33% in October 2016.
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2. Moldova
Facebook: -47.47%
Twitter: -1.35%
Up in Eastern Europe we find Moldova, the next in line on the list of countries where both Twitter and Facebook are shrinking. It is home to over 3 million people, out of which some 50% have an active Internet connection. Here Facebook’s popularity took one of the biggest drops in the world, at over 47 percentage points. In a single year, Facebook went from 85.3% to 37.9%.
Twitter’s users also fled to greener pastures, going from 2.6% to 1.2% in the same period of time. At the opposite end, usage of Russian social network VKontakte grew from a little under 3% to nearly 30% in the same timeframe. YouTube’s usage also climbed to similar values.
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1. Tajikistan
Facebook: -46.26%
Twitter: -8.61%
Tajikistan is home to about 8.6 million people, out of which only about 16% have access to an Internet connection. While the Internet penetration rate may be low, they still love to use social media sites.
The love for Facebook in Tajikistan, however, has dropped considerably over the past year, going down by 46 percentage points. Facebook’s rate went down from 77.5% to just over 31%. Twitter, too, registered a drop in popularity there, going from 8.6% to just over 0.5%.
In the same period of time, Russian social network VKontakte climbed from 3.4% to 32%, managing to become the most popular network in the country. YouTube’s popularity also climbed there considerably.
Regardless of the reasons why Facebook and Twitter usage has dropped so much over the past year in these countries, it’s clear that some people are getting bored with the social networks. Furthermore, even when they visit it every once in a while, they don’t spend too much time there. That being said, these were 10 countries where both Twitter and Facebook are shrinking.
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