Singapore Loves Facebook

Last year, 40 percent of Singaporeans were on Facebook. This year, the proportion of Singaporean Facebook users has increased. As of today, 48.9 percent of us are connected on the social networking site. The figure is derived by dividing the total number of Facebook users in Singapore (from Facebook ad platform) by the total population.

Over 1 year, more than 540,000 new users have joined the network. Almost one out of two Singaporeans is a Facebook user, which evidently highlights Singaporeans’ love for Facebook. The proportion of Facebook users in Singapore is also slightly higher compared to the U.S, which is at 47.9 percent.

So, what do Singaporeans think about Facebook? Are we Facebook lovers (addicts)?

“Singapore loves Facebook? She sure does! Facebook has become the next important, or if not as important as work email, to check into for many. Clicking on my Facebook bookmark or typing the word “facebook” in the browser address bar has become so natural and automatic whenever we have an empty gap between tasks,” said Yan Phun, co-founder of FlickEvents.

Teoh Ming Hao, an undergraduate and co-founder of Friends! Learning Centre told us that Facebook is ubiquitous in Singapore.

“Walking across the school library, you can observe many students using Facebook. At Starbucks, you also see the familiar blue design webpage on multiple screens. On the bus, people are commenting on Facebook through their smartphones. It has become the default website when it comes to online social networking.”

“I have also used Facebook for my own business. It’s a great place to connect with my team. It has also improved our internal communication because everyone is on it. Facebook beats email in this aspect because not everyone checks their mailbox on a daily basis.”

With such high user penetration, Facebook remains to be the key digital marketing platform in Singapore. Facebook ad platform allows advertisers to target users based on age and geographical location. Even in a small market like Singapore, there are ways to further narrow down to target the right group of audience. Advertisers can set ads to target users based on a specific age range, interests and/or connections on Facebook.

There are also numerous Singapore-based business pages on Facebook. Some of the local brands include Brewerkz, inSing, BigDeal, GIVE.sg, Tourpackages.com.sg and SgMobileDeals.

Besides a good business ecosystem, Facebook’s popularity among the population is probably one of the reasons why it has picked Singapore as its first Asia sales office.

Also catch: Can Singapore produce her own Mark Zuckerberg?