Social Network Users Statistics India 2013 till 2017 – Maturing growth next five years

According to a new eMarketer report, “Worldwide Social Network Users: 2013 Forecast and Comparative Estimates,” the number of social network users in India is expected to cross 100 million users and reach more than 127 million users by end of 2013. The total numbers of social media users will more than double and reach close to 283 million users by 2017. But the interesting fact is that the number of users has already started to see slower growth from 2013 and the decline in the YoY growth is expected to continue which also highlights the maturing numbers for the social networks in India which is also a global trend. There has been a strong social media adoption in India since past few years as the business organizations, government organizations and even political parties are actively utilizing the various social media platforms and social network sites to reach the people. 75% of Indians who are active internet users use social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest etc. and interaction with friends, relatives, colleagues and community, live chat, status updates, image- as well as video-sharing are some of the major activities by Indians that spend close to 30 minutes every day online on the different social networks.

According to Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the number of social media users in Urban India reached 66 million by June 2013 and by mid-2014 expected to cross 80 million users. Some 97 per cent of them are on Facebook. And they are spread beyond the big metros. One-third of social media users live in towns with a population of less than 5 million; 25 per cent of the total users live in towns with less than 2 million inhabitants. Social media usage is also fast catching up with mobile internet users. According to the report, 77 percent of the users use mobile for social media. Email, social media, search, app store and chat / IM are used every day by those accessing internet through mobile. Facebook has 78 million monthly active users (MAUs) in India for the quarter ending March 31, 2013, registering a 50% increase from the Q1 2012. LinkedIn has 20 million users, Twitter has 33 million users, Pinterest has 5.5 million users in India at the end of March 2013. Indians are very active on different social networks and are also actively increasing the amount of time they spend on the various social networking sites.