BANGALORE, INDIA: Though 70 per cent of social media users in India identify Orkut as their preferred social media site, Facebook is gaining market share with 50 per cent of social media users claiming to use Facebook most often, compared to 38 per cent for Orkut, market researcher Nielsen’s inaugural Asia Pacific Social Media Report said.

Facebook is also planning to strengthen its India operations by opening a centre in Hyderabad. 

The report, released today, also said that Twitter has enjoyed exponential growth in popularity in India, with more than half of Twitter users (57 per cent) having signed up in the past year. Close to one third of India’s social media users (32 per cent) use microblogging sites such as Twitter at least once a day, the survey said.

The most common reasons for switching social networking sites include friends moving sites, preferring the look and feel of the site, and offering more features.

However, social media usage has seen unprecedented growth in Asia Pacific in the past year and is now one of the most critical trends in the online sector, the Nielsen survey report said.

“Social media is having a larger and larger influence on purchasing decisions,” according to Charles Buchwalter, chairman and chief executive of Nielsen Online Japan. “Everyone understands that social media is hot, it's growing quickly and in very unpredictable ways everywhere in the world,” he said.

Nielson also said online product reviews are increasing their influence on purchases in India, particularly for consumer electronics. 55 per cent of Indians that read online product reviews have purchased products based on feedback. Consumer durables/electronics are the most common products purchased based on reviews, with 64 per cent of purchases.  

“The findings we’ve uncovered in this social media report highlight, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that social media is here to stay and needs to be taken seriously by the broader business community, from the CMO to the CEO,” siad Megan Clarken, managing director of Nielsen’s online business in Asia Pacific.

“With three quarters of the global Internet population now participating in some form of social media, businesses can no longer afford to simply observe the social media phenomenon, they need to embrace it.”

Nielsen’s social media report also said that three of the seven biggest global online brands are social media sites – Facebook, Wikipedia and YouTube. Close to three quarters of the world’s Internet population (74 per cent) have now visited a social networking/blogging site, and Internet users are spending an average of almost six hours per month on social media sites.

It also said Japan Internet users are the most avid bloggers globally, posting over one million blogs per month, significantly more than any other country.

Also, Japan’s adoption of Twitter continues to grow, with unique visitor numbers having increased from less than 200,000 to more than 10 million in the year to April 2010. Sixteen percent of Japanese Internet users now use Twitter, which compares to 10 per cent in the US.