Most Facebook statistics look at the top countries based only on the number of users. It gets really interesting if we combine that data with penetration rates. Take a look at the first chart - I have selected countries where 40% or more of the population uses Facebook.
It is evident that the big growth for Facebook will NOT come from countries that are on this list.
So which are the biggest countries that are missing? Check out the following table of countries with low penetration rates but a high population base.
China is missing because Facebook is banned and Korea and Japan have their own local Facebook equivalents.
The biggest growth for Facebook in the next 2 years may therefore come from India, followed by Brazil and Indonesia!
Facebook has started the process of verifying the ownership of a Facebook page. Facebook page admins of large pages have started receiving messages like this from Facebook
“Our records indicate that you are currently the admin of a Facebook Page with a large number of fans, Tickled By Life To ensure a positive user experience, we require admins of large Pages to confirm their affiliation with the brand, business, person, or entity that their Page represents.”
A clean up is obviously a great move as there are a large number of ‘non official’ pages out there claiming to represent brands and companies. I cannot help but wonder if this move along with the recent launch of ‘Community Pages’(which will surely continue to be free) is a precursor to Facebook asking customers to pay up for the privilege of running those pages.
Should Facebook charge page admins? I i think they should. In many cases Facebook pages have become an integral part of the brand’s communication strategy and it is only fair that if the brand is benefiting, it should be ready to pay for the privilege. One could argue that Facebook still makes money off pages because of the advertising opportunity that more pages create (Admins advertise for fans and fans interaction with pages creates for advertising inventory for Facebook)
It is most likely however that Facebook will introduce a new ‘premium’ category of pages and admins of large pages will be able to upgrade.
Today i met up with Aneace Haddad, the founder of Taggo. Taggo promises to bridge the gap between Facebook Fans and the cash register! A simple yet elegant solution to ‘reward’ your online fans in an offline situation. Big potential, but Taggo will need to move quickly to enjoy the first mover advantage – the technology seems simple enough for competitors to line up pretty quickly!
I wrote on this a few days ago here
I also gave a talk on the same topic as a part of the NTU – SAS breakfast talk series a few days ago!
This was the title of a talk that i gave at the Internet Show last month in Singapore!
That’s me over the last 10 years. I wonder what’s coming in the next 10!
A new adventure. I am excited about the possibilities!
My own thing continues. Even more fun and even more to learn!
Doing my own thing here - great fun and lots to learn!
Three years of travel across Asia!
I did not really enjoy this one so much!
Remember every moment of the wonderful and amazing adventure!
This is where i realised i was special 
I have just published my first post on Asia Digital Map. This is a group blog where a bunch of people from Ogilvy post their thoughts on Social Media! Check it out here and leave a comment or two!
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I am even more excited about what i am doing now!
As Associate Director 360 Digital Influence at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, my mandate is to help companies across Asia make sense of and use Social Media to run their businesses better!
I look forward to the adventure.
Here is a quick update on things that i was involved in till a few days ago.
- Tickledbylife.com is on hold as of now till my dad figures out a way to run the site and community with minimum involvement from his side!
- Afterpackup.com is also on hold till Mona is able to squeeze out enough time to run this site and community from her side.
- theAsianparent.com is being steered by my ex partner.
- My scheduled open workshops (at NUS, Aventis and others) are obviously not going to happen now. My work at Ogilvy will will involve running workshops for internal teams and clients so hopefully i won’t miss this part of what i was doing!
- I have had to pull out of my already limited teaching assignments at JCU and others as well.
