Facebook most popular social networking site in India: study

Facebook has emerged the most popular social networking site in India with 51-per cent of users logging in daily, even as WhatsApp tops the list of instant messaging (IM) apps, a report by global research consultancy firm TNS said.

A global study of the digital attitudes titled 'Connected Life' involving 60,500 internet users across 50 countries revealed 55 per cent were on instant messaging every day.

In India 51 per cent of the users use FB as their preferred social networking site, and 56 per cent used WhatsApp for instant messaging, TNS said in a statement.

PTI quoted TNS India executive director Parijat Chakraborty, ''The social networking market of India is Facebook-centric, which is fuelling the adoption of Facebook Messenger also as the IM platform for private messaging. However, WhatsApp is by far the most popular IM platform in India.''

According to the study, Facebook had maintained its position as the world's favourite social platform with almost one third of global internet users (30 per cent) saying they use it every day.

"Apps like Snapchat, WeChat, Line and WhatsApp are sweeping up new users every day, particularly younger consumers who want to share experiences with a smaller, specific group, rather than using public, mainstream platforms like Facebook or Twitter," Joseph Webb, global director of Connected Life, said in a statement.

"As people's online habits become ever more fragmented, brands need to tap into the growing popularity of IM and other emerging platforms."

Three out of five internet users in Asia Pacific are now using instant messaging every day, while four used it on a weekly basis, according to the study. Social platforms continued to rise in popularity with a 6 per cent uplift in daily usage globally since 2014.

In August Mark Zuckerberg announced the social network had hit a new milestone of one billion daily users. (See: Facebook reaches 1 bn daily-user milestone).