Facebook is becoming the social network of choice in South African townships, according to new data from local research firm ikapadata.
The latest findings support the results of a previous survey that was conducted by the same firm in November last year among township residents in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. At the time it was found that of the 715 respondents, 55% had Facebook accounts, while 50% had Mxit accounts.
The most recent survey, conducted in April among 1 008 respondents (again from Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban), focused on mobile activity and found 43% of surveyed township residents use their phones to access Facebook, while 32% use their phones to access Mxit. A total of 46% use their phones to browse the Internet.
“Comparing the characteristics of Facebook and Mxit users shows that Facebook is more popular across all LSM groups,” says ikapadata, adding that it is especially popular among “better-off” township residents.
Of those respondents from the LSM 8-10 category (which was 194 people), 75% say they use their cellphones to access Facebook. This is compared to 54% of the same group who use Mxit.
Ikapadata says similar results apply to age: “While the popularity of both Facebook (56%) and Mxit (47%) is fairly high among township residents aged 16-30, 40% of respondents aged 31-35 use Facebook on their phones, compared to 18% using Mxit. Respondents older than 35 are generally less likely to be accessing social networks, with 9% using Facebook on their phones, compared to 4% using Mxit.”
Getting smarter
“The popularity of mobile Internet services among the surveyed population can be partly ascribed to the increasing prevalence of smartphones in townships,” notes ikapadata.
According to the survey, Nokia is still the most prevalent cellphone brand, with 53% of respondents owning a Nokia device. Samsung is the second most popular with 19%, while BlackBerry comes in third with 11%.
“At the same time, 91% of BlackBerry owners claim to browse the Internet, compared to 41% of owners of other brands' cellphones. Moreover, BlackBerry owners claim to spend an average of R170 per month on airtime, opposed to R118 claimed to be spent by non-BlackBerry cellphone users,” says ikapadata.
In the report detailing the November survey findings, ikapadata stated: “While for a long time Mxit could rely on the unique accessibility of its service due to economic constraints among its core constituency, the increasing affordability of more capable cellphones is causing a shift in the South African social media scene as more and more individuals can afford entry-level smartphones, thus gaining access to a wider range of services, and especially Facebook.”
In July last year, Facebook released its 'Facebook On Any Phone' application, which was designed to make the service accessible in developing countries, with over 2 500 handsets being supported.
The national report on the South African social media landscape published by World Wide Worx (WWW) and Fuseware last year placed Mxit as the number one social network in the country, with over 10 million active users.
At the time, WWW MD Arthur Goldstuck said Mxit was still growing, but churn from the service was very high. “It is entering a phase where churn will probably exceed new sign-ons. A lot depends on how the new management refreshes both the app and the brand.”
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