clip image003 Top 10 Social Networking Sites in IndiaGlobal social networking brands are continuously gaining prominence in India, and this is quite evident from comScore’s recent report on India’s top social networking sites. As compared to the previous year (2007), there has been a 51 % increase in the number of visitors on such sites amounting to more than 19 million visitors by the end of 2008.

Top 10 Social Networking Sites in India (2008 vs. 2007)

Rank Social Networking Site Total Unique Visitors (m) (Dec07) Total Unique Visitors (m) (Dec08) % Change
1 Orkut.com 7.123 12.869 81
2 Facebook.com 1.619 4.044 150
3 Bharatstudent.com 1.736 3.269 88
4 hi5.com 714 2.012 182
5 ibibo.Com 1.970 990 -50
6 MySpace Sites 352 741 110
7 LinkedIn.com 293 513 75
8 PerfSpot.com 2.106 433 -79
9 BIGADDA.com 515 385 -25
10 Fropper.com 256 248 -3

The study reveals that Orkut, Facebook, hi5, LinkedIn and MySpace all have witnessed prominent growth in visitation.

Highlights:

  • Orkut tops the list of the most visited social networking site with more than 12.8 million visitors. This means an increase of 81 % from the last year.
  • Orkut’s audience was three times the size of its nearest competitor in the category.
  • Facebook.com ranked at the number 2 spot with 4 million visitors. This has been an increase of 150 % as compared to the previous year.
  • Next in line at number 3 is the local social networking site Bharatstudent.com with 3.3 million visitors. This site showed an increase by 88 %.
  • hi5.com comes in next at number 4 with 2 million visitors, which means an increase by 182 %.

Says Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president:

“Social networking continued to grow strongly in India this past year, with several of the top global brands carving out a more prominent position. While there is certainly room for several players in the social networking space in India, the sites that have the right blend of having both a strong brand and cultural relevance will be best positioned for future growth.”

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(Source: comScore World Metrix)