The online Pinoy in numbers

Out of the 3.88 billion people in Asia-Pacific, 1.87 billion use the Internet. That’s 58 percent of the region’s population, according to infographics created by the Asia-Pacific division of global public relations agency Burson-Marsteller. Using publicly- available data from Google Ad Planner, internetworldstats.com and checkfacebook.com, the compilation is an analysis of Asian digital habits.



The region, which Burson-Marsteller Asia-Pacific chief Bob Pickard calls “one of the fastest-growing digital landscapes in the world,” has a “rapid uptake of digital media,” with “consumers spending more time creating, consuming and sharing information.”



The compilation shows that Internet use has drastically increased in the last decade (2000 to 2010), with most countries in the region experiencing growth in the number of users anywhere from 107 percent (South Korea) to 1,767 percent (China). An unusual uptrend is seen in Vietnam, where the spike is at an unbelievable 12,035 percent.



In the Philippines, the number of Internet users increased by 1,385 percent during the same time frame. This means that, today, 29.7 million Filipinos are online. With a population of almost 98 million, the country has Internet penetration of 30.3 percent. In the first half of 2011, the top five Web sites in the Philippine market, based on reach, are Facebook (91.5 percent reach), Yahoo! (82.8 percent reach), Blogspot (31.9 percent reach), Bing (22.1 percent reach) and Sulit (20.1 percent reach). (Sulit is the only local Web site on the list.)



From January to June of this year, Facebook has accummulated 15 billion page views from the Philippines. A far second is Twitter with 56 million views (16.3 percent reach), followed by Blogspot with 50 million views (31.9 percent reach), Flickr with 9.9 million views (7.7 percent reach) and LinkedIn with 6.2 million views (4 percent reach).



By comparison, the most popular mainstream media Web sites, Inquirer.net and PhilStar.com, got 12 million views each. Other frequently visited sites include CNet (7.4 million), GMA News Online (6.7 million) and ABS-CBN News (6.2 million).



These figures, says Pickard, aim “to share insights and perspectives on the game-changing ideas and topics that fascinate and inspire us during these exciting times.” To view the complete Social Media Infographics booklet, go to www.bursonmarsteller.asia.



(Note: A site’s number of “page views” accounts for the total visits while its “percent reach” pertains to the percentage of users viewing the site. They're not necessarily directly proportional.)

by Ed Biado