Social media users in urban India to reach 66M by June; users spending 30 minutes/day: IAMAI

The total number of social media users in urban India reached 62 million by December 2012, which basically means that 74 per cent of all active internet users in urban India (84 million) are using social media, according to a report on social media in India by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB. The report also adds that the number of social media users will increase to 66 million by June, while the active internet user base will also increase to 89 million.

On an average, Indian netizens were spending (as of September 2012) close to 30 minutes (29.6 minutes to be exact) on social media on weekdays, while for weekends this number reduces a little to 28.8 minutes. Not surprisingly, Facebook was the most used social media website, followed by Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter. 

Penetration of social networking

Interestingly, out of the total social media users, 34 per cent are from the top eight cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune), while 35 percent of the total users are from small towns of population of up to five lakh. Also, the highest proportion of social media usage was observed among the demographic segments of 'young men' and 'college going students', with 84 per cent and 82 per cent penetration levels respectively.

Social media usage ranks only after e-mail in terms of usage. Entertainment, gaming, utility and chatting were the other top activities of the urban active internet users

Social media usage on mobile

Social media usage is also fast catching up with mobile internet users. According to the report, 77 percent of the users use their mobiles for social media. Additionally, a greater proportion of active mobile internet users use social media, as compared to the overall general active internet population, which shows that social media is one of the most indulged in activities on mobiles devices.

E-mail, social media, search, app store and chat/IM are some of the things used on a daily basis by users accessing internet via mobiles. As far as the usage of mobile applications is concerned, the most popularly used mobile apps are of social media and entertainment.

(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)