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From Techno
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The next fastest social networking growth will
come from the emerging markets of the world, dominated the Middle East and
Africa (where the base of social network users remains small) and Asia-Pacific.
Latin America will also grow its user base by 18.5%, slightly below the
worldwide average.
eMarketer forecasts that Facebook will have nearly 826 million users
around the world in 2012 year, up from 650.7 million in 2011. The 2012 figure will
represent 58.8% of social network users, 36.4% of internet users and just under
12% of the total worldwide population.
Facebook maintains relatively low
penetration in Asia-Pacific compared to the rest of the world, while
competitors like Sina Weibo and Renren continue to grow in markets like China.
Just 20.1% of internet users in Asia-Pacific use Facebook—compared to over 44%
penetration in Western Europe, nearly 60% penetration in North America, and
over 56% penetration in both Latin America and the Middle East and Africa.