The introduction of mobile broadband coupled with influx of affordable smartphones have a catalytic effect on use of social media in Pakistan as the trend is flourishing with estimated two million user accounts in Pakistan.
There are more than 2.1 billion active social media accounts in the world ie 29 per cent of entire world population. People turn towards social media to voice their opinions, experiences, suggestions and feedback on any topic or constituent of society.
Social media has been gaining vast popularity among Pakistanis mainly due to Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Instagram etc and among the most popular social platforms in Pakistan, Facebook leads the way.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in its report, said social media is not just a communication platform but it has become a symbol of online presence for companies and individuals alike. It has become a must for every business, celebrity, institute, media outlet, general public and even the government to create and operate accounts on popular social media sites/apps.
Public engagement and open interaction with the masses is the new trend in government circles around the world. The Federal and state governments, various regulatory authorities, public relations, civil governments, and political parties make use of Whatsapp, Twitter and Facebook to make announcements, deliver messages and get first-hand public feedback.
The report said use of social media in Pakistan has some inherent barriers and challenges to face that require collaborative efforts from all stakeholders. Low internet penetration, lack of local content and language barriers are some of the general problems that also affect adoption of the social media in Pakistan.
According to the statistics by wearesocial.sg, there are more than 2.1 billion active social media accounts in the world, of which 1.685 billion are active mobile social accounts. The major brands of the world check the market pulse through social media barometers and also consider feedback directly from customers via social media channels.
Facebook is way ahead with more than 1.3 billion active monthly user accounts, the largest virtual nation of the world. It has close to 1 billion daily active users. QQ is the second largest social media application with 829 million active user accounts. It is a chat messenger with a major user base of mainly Chinese.
Qzone and Whatsapp are the two second largest social platforms with 629 and 600 million active user accounts.
Twitter is also fast becoming the preferred social media portal with more than 280 million connections per day.