Malaysia Social Media Statistics 2014 is compiled from various sources around the web for those wanting to know more in-depth about how social media has changed over the years in Malaysia.
Numbers have grown tremendously, which is not shocking as this is the future; the Internet has finally taken control of many people's lives; you should know what I mean. Anyway, I have a section discussing the ills of social media in Malaysia at the end of this article.
Social media in Malaysia has grown due mainly to the ease of Internet connection, especially in the urban areas around Malaysia. While Facebook continues to dominate the lead in the digital era, many multinational companies are riding on the bandwagon simply to capture market share.
A few years ago, I remember speaking at a social media conference in Malaysia when things were still new. I told of how social media would change Malaysians; it has happened in recent years, but back then, people laughed at me.
I also touched on how companies should embrace social media back in 2010 to be the first few to get on this bandwagon, and again, a majority of so-called marketing people that attended did not seem to think so. They were more interested in putting all their eggs in one basket, which was mainstream media. A rough conclusion was that they assumed that social media was 'FREE' as anyone could do.
In recent years, it has been proven that the big companies have heavily invested in Social Media; names like McDonald's, KFC, AirAsia, Maybank, and RHB have been highly aggressive in Social Media, where their marketing budgets have been split from 90-10 to now 60-40.
This source is from a few digital strategists working in agencies. Do you notice how advertising agencies around Malaysia now have large digital departments?
Some up-to-date statistics on the Malaysian Population
• Current Population of Malaysia - 30,387,862
Malaysia Social Media Statistics for 2014
The social media stats are based on media platforms that are heavily used in Malaysia and taken from SocialBakers.
Top Malaysia Facebook Pages
Below are statistics of the top Facebook pages in Malaysia based on overall.
Top Malaysia Facebook Pages
Below are statistics of the top Facebook pages in Malaysia based on overall.
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| Top Malaysia Facebook Pages |
Malaysia Travel Facebook Page Stats
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| Travel Facebook Pages in Malaysia |
The above shows the stats of various Facebook Pages related to travel in Malaysia for 2014. Note that Cuti.my is the highest, followed by others.
Again, this is subjective as one needs to submit their Travel Facebook Page to SocialBakers to be listed; therefore, several higher likes pages are not included here.
On a separate note, a number of the top players on Facebook Pages have bought their fans; while you will hear a number of them claiming they are organically reached, it is easily proven by looking at the engagement and like rates based on posts and photographs.
There are many other ways to detect bought likes. Just for argument's sake - The more 'likes' you have seems to say your product or brand is up there. Well, that is what many think.
A trick to do this is not to buy your followers all at once as it will show; therefore, they do long-term purchasing of 'Likes' where specialized companies offer these kinds of services to not make it look obvious.
I mean, every week, you can purchase 500' likes', and by six months, you should be able to have 12,000 likes. Simple right? However, in 2015, the trend changed, and people are looking at engagement rates versus numbers. High numbers of Facebook Likes are so 2013/14.
Here is a good example - If you look at National Geographic, they have 34.8 million followers with an average of 10,000 likes per post. When you do the math, it is 0.028% of 'Likes'. Wow!
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| Top Malaysia Facebook Pages 2014 |
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| Top Malaysia Brands on Facebook |
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| Number of Facebook Users in Malaysia taken Q2, 2014 |
Number of Facebook Users in Malaysia
Facebook is currently the most visited social media website in Malaysia. There are 10.4 million Facebook users in Malaysia, of which 3.5 million are youth aged between 18 and 24.
Twitter Statistics in Malaysia
After several years, Twitter in Malaysia still holds firm. But the statistics show the numbers growing steadily compared to just a few years ago.
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| Top Twitter Profiles in Malaysia for 2014 |
After several years, Twitter in Malaysia still holds firm. But the statistics show the numbers growing steadily compared to just a few years ago.
• In Malaysia, an average of 5.4 million tweets were posted daily in 2014.
• There are about 3.5 million Twitter users and a whopping 162.4 million tweets posted up to February 2014.
• 21.8% of these users, approximately 760 thousand Twitter users, are active, while the majority, 78.2%, which is 2.7 million of the entire Malaysian Twitter population, are inactive.
• Analyzing the number of tweets posted in Q4 2013, the top tweet location is Kangar, followed by Masai, Ampang, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru.
• Brands, Celebrities and Politicians also participate actively on Twitter.
• 3 out of 5 top brands with the most followers on Twitter are airlines.
• 4 out of 5 top brands are related to the transportation industry.
• The current Malaysian Prime Minister is the most popular on Twitter.
• There are only a handful of Professional Travel and Tourism Twitter users in Malaysia. (@MalaysiaAsia is one of them)
• The most active Twitter accounts in Malaysia are a majority of mainstream companies like T.V. Stations, Mainstream News Media and Corporate Companies and also local Malaysian celebrities.
• There are about 3.5 million Twitter users and a whopping 162.4 million tweets posted up to February 2014.
• 21.8% of these users, approximately 760 thousand Twitter users, are active, while the majority, 78.2%, which is 2.7 million of the entire Malaysian Twitter population, are inactive.
• Analyzing the number of tweets posted in Q4 2013, the top tweet location is Kangar, followed by Masai, Ampang, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru.
• Brands, Celebrities and Politicians also participate actively on Twitter.
• 3 out of 5 top brands with the most followers on Twitter are airlines.
• 4 out of 5 top brands are related to the transportation industry.
• The current Malaysian Prime Minister is the most popular on Twitter.
• There are only a handful of Professional Travel and Tourism Twitter users in Malaysia. (@MalaysiaAsia is one of them)
• The most active Twitter accounts in Malaysia are a majority of mainstream companies like T.V. Stations, Mainstream News Media and Corporate Companies and also local Malaysian celebrities.
Instagram Users in Malaysia
There are a recorded 5,517,954 Instagram users in Malaysia as of January 2015. ZocialRank, a social media company based in Thailand, has tallied these numbers. The massive jump in users indicates that Instagram in Malaysia has almost tripled since two years ago. Big corporations in Malaysia are now embracing Instagram as one of the must-have social media platforms to reach out to consumers.
Instagram World News
Instagram produced a blog post recently to celebrate passing the 300 million user milestone in late December 2014. Just nine months after hitting 200 million users in March 2014, Instagram now says 300 million people use its photo app every month, with 70% coming from outside the U.S.
Instagram's been going strong for four years now, and despite fears that the acquisition by Facebook would screw it up, there are currently 70 million photos shared each day and over 30 billion in total.
Google Plus Users in Malaysia
In a shocking outcome, there seems to be a hike in Google Plus users in Malaysia. Just 2-3 years ago, most Malaysians were on common platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which seemed easier to communicate with friends.
At a social media seminar in early 2014 where I was speaking, I asked the audience how many were using Google Plus, and to my surprise, only 10% of the 200 people raised their hands. When I asked the rest why were they not on it, their reply was simply because all their friends were on other platforms, which was easier to connect.
According to data, Malaysians have jumped to 8th place on the overall chart above, which was compiled at the end of 2014, beating countries like the United States and the U.K. This shows that Malaysia's social media trend is picking up faster by the year.
Whatsapp Users in Malaysia
Instagram's been going strong for four years now, and despite fears that the acquisition by Facebook would screw it up, there are currently 70 million photos shared each day and over 30 billion in total.
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| Malaysia Google Plus Users 2014 - 2015 |
In a shocking outcome, there seems to be a hike in Google Plus users in Malaysia. Just 2-3 years ago, most Malaysians were on common platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which seemed easier to communicate with friends.
At a social media seminar in early 2014 where I was speaking, I asked the audience how many were using Google Plus, and to my surprise, only 10% of the 200 people raised their hands. When I asked the rest why were they not on it, their reply was simply because all their friends were on other platforms, which was easier to connect.
According to data, Malaysians have jumped to 8th place on the overall chart above, which was compiled at the end of 2014, beating countries like the United States and the U.K. This shows that Malaysia's social media trend is picking up faster by the year.
Whatsapp Users in Malaysia
Whatsapp is used by 39 per cent of the global mobile Internet population, whereas Malaysia comes in at number 3 in the amount of usage. The Whatsapp statistics for 2014 are;
• South Africa (79 per cent)
• Argentina (75 per cent)
• Malaysia (73 per cent)
• Hong Kong (71 per cent)
• Singapore (69 per cent)
• India (67 per cent)
*Source from GlobalWebIndex
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| Smartphone Users in Malaysia |
Smartphone Statistics for Malaysia
74% play games on their phone
The casual gaming segment has undoubtedly been boosted by Facebook and recently LINE, with popular games like LINE POP, LINE PLAY, LINE Rangers, Disney Tsum Tsum etc.
35% access the Internet only via a smartphone
This group of people is what we call the pure "mobile-only" group who are using only mobile rather than PC or tablet to access the Internet.
More Malaysians are accessing Facebook via mobile.
More than 8.7 million (out of 10 million) Malaysians access Facebook via mobile daily, while more than 14 million (out of 15 million) monthly.
There are more than 10 million LINE users in Malaysia
LINE announced in April 2014 of reaching 10 million users in Malaysia, establishing itself as the top 3 mobile messaging app with WhatsApp and WeChat.
The stats above are from ecommercemilo.com.
Top Websites in Malaysia
Below are statistics of websites in Malaysia that are popularly visited. These numbers show monthly and taken in 2014; therefore, they are random months. Overall, it offers an estimate by month, and numbers show Unique visitors versus Page Views, which can be double or triple the number.
Top 30 Local Websites Visited from Desktop Computers in Malaysia
Rank
|
Entity
|
Unique Visitors
|
1
|
MAYBANK2U.COM.MY
|
2,849,000
|
2
|
MUDAH.MY
|
2,049,000
|
3
|
AIRASIA.COM
|
1,598,000
|
4
|
CIMBCLICKS.COM.MY
|
1,444,000
|
5
|
CARI.COM.MY
|
1,059,000
|
6
|
MALAYSIAAIRLINES.COM
|
946,000
|
7
|
PBEBANK.COM
|
852,000
|
8
|
HMETRO.COM.MY
|
817,000
|
9
|
THESTAR.COM.MY
|
759,000
|
10
|
SINARHARIAN.COM.MY
|
742,000
|
11
|
JOBSTREET.COM
|
721,000
|
12
|
LOWYAT.NET
|
689,000
|
13
|
MALAYSIAKINI.COM
|
671,000
|
14
|
BHARIAN.COM.MY
|
671,000
|
15
|
PAULTAN.ORG
|
634,000
|
16
|
UTUSAN.COM.MY
|
631,000
|
17
|
DIGI.COM.MY
|
602,000
|
18
|
THEMALAYSIANINSIDER.COM.MY
|
589,000
|
19
|
TONTON.COM.MY
|
581,000
|
20
|
LELONG.COM.MY
|
569,000
|
21
|
MAXIS.COM.MY
|
556,000
|
22
|
BLOGR.MY
|
548,000
|
23
|
THERAKYATPOST.COM
|
533,000
|
24
|
ASTRO.COM.MY
|
491,000
|
25
|
ASTROAWANI.COM
|
460,000
|
26
|
BEAUTIFULNARA.COM
|
446,000
|
27
|
RHB.COM.MY
|
443,000
|
28
|
SAYS.COM
|
418,000
|
29
|
POS.COM.MY
|
418,000
|
30
|
MOBILE88.COM
|
404,000
|
Top 30 Web Properties from Desktop Computers
in Malaysia |
Taken for September 2014
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Rank
|
Entity
|
Unique Visitors
|
1
|
Google Sites
|
12,670,000
|
2
|
Facebook
|
9,115,000
|
3
|
Yahoo Sites
|
7,866,000
|
4
|
Microsoft Sites
|
6,161,000
|
5
|
Wikimedia Foundation Sites
|
3,551,000
|
6
|
Priceline.com Incorporated
|
3,010,000
|
7
|
Ask Network
|
2,953,000
|
8
|
Maybank Group
|
2,897,000
|
9
|
WORDPRESS.COM*
|
2,672,000
|
10
|
Mode Media (formerly Glam Media)
|
2,147,000
|
11
|
MUDAH.MY
|
2,049,000
|
12
|
Media Prima Group
|
1,805,000
|
13
|
CBS Interactive
|
1,793,000
|
14
|
Dropbox Sites
|
1,793,000
|
15
|
BitTorrent Network
|
1,678,000
|
16
|
LinkedIn
|
1,629,000
|
17
|
CIMB Group
|
1,621,000
|
18
|
Tune Group
|
1,618,000
|
19
|
Lazada Sites
|
1,563,000
|
20
|
Baidu.com Inc.
|
1,524,000
|
21
|
TWITTER.COM
|
1,483,000
|
22
|
Apple Inc.
|
1,447,000
|
23
|
Astro Group
|
1,422,000
|
24
|
Amazon Sites
|
1,373,000
|
25
|
Alibaba.com Corporation
|
1,344,000
|
26
|
The Star Media Group
|
1,317,000
|
27
|
Groupon
|
1,301,000
|
28
|
Ziff Davis Tech
|
1,186,000
|
29
|
AOL, Inc.
|
1,117,000
|
30
|
Maxis Group
|
1,067,000
|
The above statistics are taken from ComScore.
Malaysia Top 10 Apps used on Smartphones for 2014
With a growing number of users of smartphones in Malaysia, the rise of smartphone apps has also been recorded by Nielsen Malaysia. Notice that iOS is not included in this survey.
Malaysia Top 10 Apps used on Smartphones for 2014
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RANK
|
APP
|
GENRE
|
1
|
Google Play Store
|
App Store
|
2
|
WhatsApp
|
Chat/VOIP
|
3
|
Facebook
|
Social Networking
|
4
|
WeChat
|
Chat/VOIP
|
5
|
Google Search
|
Search
|
6
|
YouTube
|
Multimedia
|
7
|
Facebook Messenger
|
Chat/VOIP
|
8
|
Gmail
|
Email
|
9
|
Instagram
|
Social Networking
|
10
|
Google+
|
Social Networking
|
Source: Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights (panel data from a strategic alliance with Informate Mobile Intelligence in SEA)
Overview of Social Media and Internet Users in Asia Pacific and Malaysia
The charts below are taken from 'We Are Social' and showcase the main numbers around the Asia Pacific.
Overview of Social Media and Internet Users in Asia Pacific and Malaysia
The charts below are taken from 'We Are Social' and showcase the main numbers around the Asia Pacific.
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| Internet Users in Asia Pacific 2014 |
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| Social Media Users in the Asia Pacific |
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| Social Media Penetration in the Asia Pacific |
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| Social Media Use in Malaysia |
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| Internet Indicators in Malaysia |
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| Malaysia Mobile Statistics |
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| Smartphone Usage in Malaysia |
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| Social Indicators in Malaysia for 2014 |
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| Malaysia Population and Social Statistics |
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| Social Media Platforms - Active Users for 2014 |
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| Internet Use Statistics Worldwide 2014-2015 |
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| Social Media Use Statistics Worldwide 2014-2015 |
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| Mobile Share for Web Traffic 2014-2015 |
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| Social Media Platforms Active Users |
* Internet users generally have an average of 5.54 social media accounts.
* Active users around the world:
• Internet: 2.95 billion
• Social media: 2.03 billion
• Mobile 3.61 billion
• Mobile social: 1.56 billion
* Active users by social platforms:
• Q.Q.: 848 million
• QZone: 644 million
• Whatsapp: 500 million
• Wechat: 396 million
• Google+: 343 million
• LinkedIn: 300 million
• Tumblr: 230 million
• Tencent Weibo: 220 million
• VKontakte: 75 million
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| Time spent on Social Media - By country. |
*Sources from We Are Social.
ASEAN Social Media Statistics
Top 20 Brands on the Social Network in ASEAN for 2014
1. Surfer Girl 2,470,743 Indonesia
2. Yamaha Motor Indonesia 2,274,097 Indonesia
3. AirAsia 2,025,441 Malaysia
4. Chocolatos 1,950,237 Indonesia
5. Axe ID 1,858,460 Indonesia
6. Blackberry Indonesia 1,806,798 Indonesia
7. Nescafe Philippines 1,684,917 Philippines
8. Smart Communications, Inc. 1,246,194 Philippines
9. Starbucks Philippines 1,174,065 Philippines
10. GTH 1,150,247 Thailand
11. Hair Experts 1,107,711 Philippines
12. Kratingdaeng Indonesia 1,068,346 Indonesia
13. DTAC 1,054,572 Thailand
14. Pepsithai 1,020,305 Thailand
15. Major Cineplex Group 1,006,023 Thailand
16. CLEAR Indonesia 937,673 Indonesia
17. Satu Malaysia 860,084 Malaysia
18. Tourism Malaysia 858,158 Malaysia
19. Ichitan 854,202 Thailand
20. Natur-E Journey to Beauty 819,681 Indonesia
Top 5 Brands on Facebook 2014 for ASEAN
Surfer Girl 2,418,220 Indonesia
Yamaha Motor Indonesia 2,221,359 Indonesia
Chocolatos 1,950,237 Indonesia
AXE ID 1,858,460 Indonesia
Blackberry Indonesia 1,806,798 Indonesia
Top 5 Brands on Twitter 2014 for ASEAN
Air Asia 464,314 Malaysia
Major Cineplex 279,077 Thailand
ThaiPBS 197,932 Thailand
GTH 152,318 Thailand
MAS 146,044 Malaysia
You can also view one of my articles highlighting the Social Media Statistics of Malaysia for 2012-2013. Those are also compiled from various social media measures around the world.
1. Surfer Girl 2,470,743 Indonesia
2. Yamaha Motor Indonesia 2,274,097 Indonesia
3. AirAsia 2,025,441 Malaysia
4. Chocolatos 1,950,237 Indonesia
5. Axe ID 1,858,460 Indonesia
6. Blackberry Indonesia 1,806,798 Indonesia
7. Nescafe Philippines 1,684,917 Philippines
8. Smart Communications, Inc. 1,246,194 Philippines
9. Starbucks Philippines 1,174,065 Philippines
10. GTH 1,150,247 Thailand
11. Hair Experts 1,107,711 Philippines
12. Kratingdaeng Indonesia 1,068,346 Indonesia
13. DTAC 1,054,572 Thailand
14. Pepsithai 1,020,305 Thailand
15. Major Cineplex Group 1,006,023 Thailand
16. CLEAR Indonesia 937,673 Indonesia
17. Satu Malaysia 860,084 Malaysia
18. Tourism Malaysia 858,158 Malaysia
19. Ichitan 854,202 Thailand
20. Natur-E Journey to Beauty 819,681 Indonesia
Top 5 Brands on Facebook 2014 for ASEAN
Surfer Girl 2,418,220 Indonesia
Yamaha Motor Indonesia 2,221,359 Indonesia
Chocolatos 1,950,237 Indonesia
AXE ID 1,858,460 Indonesia
Blackberry Indonesia 1,806,798 Indonesia
Top 5 Brands on Twitter 2014 for ASEAN
Air Asia 464,314 Malaysia
Major Cineplex 279,077 Thailand
ThaiPBS 197,932 Thailand
GTH 152,318 Thailand
MAS 146,044 Malaysia
You can also view one of my articles highlighting the Social Media Statistics of Malaysia for 2012-2013. Those are also compiled from various social media measures around the world.
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| Blogging number plate - image from www.jeetbanerjee.com |
While most people look at Blogging and bloggers differently in Malaysia, there has been much talk about how Blogging is one of the most potent and effective ways of getting the message across.
A recent article by a top SEO guru indicated that Blogging is even more prominent now as search engines tend to favour blogs due to the fast and fresh content versus conventional static websites.
However, in Malaysia - bloggers are mostly known as non-mainstream, and most bloggers are still in the infancy zone - attending parties, events, launches and doing free reviews. Still, many lack powerful SEO knowledge and digital marketing where they can take their blogs to the next level.
However, in Malaysia - bloggers are mostly known as non-mainstream, and most bloggers are still in the infancy zone - attending parties, events, launches and doing free reviews. Still, many lack powerful SEO knowledge and digital marketing where they can take their blogs to the next level.
This has also resulted in local companies engaging Malaysian bloggers for free or minimally paid reviews. Again, they are charging the clients vast amounts of money.
Industries have been asked many times to have a blog on their website to keep healthy digital content going, but the additional cost and lack of knowledge have not materialized in getting this done. Anyway, below are some blogging numbers taken worldwide.
Industries have been asked many times to have a blog on their website to keep healthy digital content going, but the additional cost and lack of knowledge have not materialized in getting this done. Anyway, below are some blogging numbers taken worldwide.
• 2.73 million blog posts published daily (Website Magazine)
• 46 per cent of people read blogs several times a day (Wolfgang Jaegel)
• 140 million blog readers in the U.S. (Quick Sprout)
• There are 31 per cent more bloggers now than 3 years ago (Wolfgang Jaegel)
• 4 out of 10 U.S. companies use blogs for marketing purposes (Wolfgang Jaegel)
• 46 per cent of people read blogs several times a day (Wolfgang Jaegel)
• 140 million blog readers in the U.S. (Quick Sprout)
• There are 31 per cent more bloggers now than 3 years ago (Wolfgang Jaegel)
• 4 out of 10 U.S. companies use blogs for marketing purposes (Wolfgang Jaegel)
How Social Media has taken a turn in our daily lives
Social Media in Malaysia has also spiralled into a win-lose situation where genuine users have now been punished by more sponsored advertisements and significant useless algorithm updates that seem to benefit only corporations and advertisers. It is no longer like how it once used to be user-friendly.
At one time, a couple of years back in Malaysia, you could easily see updates on political and other non-general news feeds and photos on Facebook, while nowadays, you rarely see them or hardly ever see them.
At one time, a couple of years back in Malaysia, you could easily see updates on political and other non-general news feeds and photos on Facebook, while nowadays, you rarely see them or hardly ever see them.
Well, 'something was probably done, and I will not get into details on this issue here. Yet again, many seem to be devoted to this new social disease as it has become a part of their daily lives.
Negative Impact on Malaysians with Social Media
A recent article by The Star online newspaper dated January 5th 2015, highlighted how social media affects the country's youth.
I do not blame them, as, in the long run, social media will be the downfall of Malaysians if we do not learn how to maintain a balanced life. The article highlighted;
* Malaysians spend more time on their social networking sites without meeting their friends face-to-face.
* Statistics show that Malaysians are engaged for long hours on social networking sites rather than actually meeting people .
* It is very common in Malaysia to have people who are busy updating their Facebook status or being on other social networking sites.
* People tend to share everything about themselves on social networking sites rather than having an actual conversation with their family and friends.
* Malaysians fail to realise that they are actually losing the rapport among family and friends by indulging themselves in various social networks.
* Applications such as games, advertisements and other online activities while providing immense joy to their users can also be destructive to students.
* As a result, social media addicts show little or no academic growth since much of their time is spent staring at the screen.
Snapchat in Malaysia
Will we see a trend shift in social messaging in 2015? Statistics show that Snapchat was the fastest growing social/messaging app overall in 2014 (+57%), with teens over-indexing more strongly for this service than for any other; more than a third of 16-19s are now using Snapchat in the UK, Ireland, Sweden and the USA.
As Malaysians are always late to catch the wave, I suspect that when Snapchat grows even more significant, only Malaysians will jump on this.
Look at the trend; when Facebook was prominent in the USA 8 years ago, many Malaysians were clueless about what it was; we only caught on somewhere around 2009.
The same goes for Instagram; when it was growing in 2012 around the world, people here were still on Facebook and Twitter. We only caught on in late 2013 onwards.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The facts and figures above have been compiled from various sources based on numbers taken from 2013-2014. Some social media statistics are more recent, taken at the end of 2014 and published in early 2015.
Since it is already March 2015, the numbers will slightly increase, but it will show more accurately in the following report, which will most likely come out in the third quarter of 2015.
If you have any questions or inputs, please feel free to comment in the form below for the Malaysia Social Media Statistics 2014.