New research undertaken by eMarketer has suggested that by 2014, Germany will have overtaken the UK as the top European country for social media.
The study predicted that the UK will be home to around 33.9 million people using social networks next year, while Germany will lead the way with 35.4 million users.
This trend is expected to continue into 2017 – at which point the UK will, according to the research, boast 36.7 million users.
For Facebook statistics, the UK will likely remain in the top spot for Western Europe; eMarketer has suggested that almost half of the UK population – about 30 million people – have accessed their Facebook news feeds at least once a month this year, putting Britain well ahead of Germany (22.1 million).
Social media isn’t the only online arena in which Germany is experiencing sizable increases, as the country recently saw a massive surge in ecommerce. One study has predicted that Germany’s ecommerce activity will, by the end of this year, have grown by 44% against 2012.
At this stage, it’s still unclear as to why Germany is going through a period of significant growth; for social media at least, it could be down to people’s increasing need to engage with news content providers on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
The same may be said for the UK, as news companies continue to utilise social networks and brands turn to online platforms to publicise industry relevant stories. The Sun, for instance, started recruiting for a 24 hour social media department earlier this month.
Further highlighting the relevance of Twitter and Facebook when it comes to keeping up to date with news, a Cision and Canterbury Christ Church University study found that the vast majority (96%) of journalists in the UK use social platforms on a daily basis.
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