10 Jan

What do Armenians do on social networking sites?

More from the ArMedia dataset…

With so many Armenians on social networking sites (85% of mobile Internet users, 83% of Armenians that have both mobile and PC-based Internet, and 54% of PC-based Internet users in Armenia, as of a year ago), what are they doing on there?

Mostly communicating with friends! While only a little bit more than a third (37%) of Armenians that access social networking sites via a computer say that they communicate with friends, three-quarters of mobile Internet SNS users and 83% of those with both mobile and PC Internet and use SNSs say they’re communicating with pals.

Some use messaging to communicate with friends (27% of PC SNS users, 23% of mobile SNS users, and 19% that have both mobile and PC for SNS access).

Those PC SNS users are busy with something else — they’re sharing information (well, 37% of them are), but compared to only 13% of those with both and 17% of those with mobile for SNS access, this is a lot!

Those PC users are givers, not takers — they are busy sharing information, but they’re not really seeking information. Only 8% of PC SNS users are seeking information on social networking sites, while a quarter of mobile users and those with both PC and mobile for SNS access do.

What about new people? In my qualitative work I’ve heard a lot about Armenians trying to meet dating partners on social networking sites – and maybe this is the case in this data as well. A quarter to a third of Armenian SNS users are trying to meet new people on social networking sites.

Games are a bit popular too, especially with mobile users — a third of those with both PC and mobile and a quarter of mobile-only SNS users play games. Only 18% of PC SNS users do though.

Photos, videos, and music are posted by 17-27% of SNS users too.

** If anyone is interested, I can do a Facebook versus Odnoklassniki breakdown. **

New data is coming soon (hoorah!), but this gives a pretty good snapshot of Armenian social network site use in January-February 2011.