New research shows 11-million South Africans have Facebook on the brain

South Africans love Facebook and watching television, and this research proves it. According to a new study by Ipsos research house, South Africans who use Facebook are pretty much obsessed with the platform from the moment they wake up to when they go to sleep at night.

The survey, commissioned by Facebook itself, showed that among those surveyed, 40% check Facebook before getting out of bed and 36% check Facebook just before going to sleep.

The world’s largest social network, which currently has 1.28-billion monthly active users globally and 101-billion monthlies on mobile, sees deep engagement from South Africans. According to Ipsos, there are 11-million monthly active users on the platform in South Africa and 10-million mobile monthlies. There are 6.7-million daily users in SA and 6.2-million on mobile dailies.

“Facebook has become a service that South Africans access throughout their day, wherever they are; from bed time to prime time. That is largely thanks to the growth of mobile which means people can stay constantly connected with everyone and everything that matters to them,” said Diego Oliva, Facebook’s Director for the CEEMEA region.

The study also found that Facebook is widely used for “second screen” activity while watching television. Around 80% of South Africans surveyed said that they use another screen while watching TV. The study also reckons that Facebook is six times more popular than Twitter for second screening in South Africa and 12 times more popular than YouTube.

Evenings are more popular Facebooking times as 92% of South Africans who regularly use Facebook say they do so during TV prime time hours (5pm-9pm).

“In many ways, South Africa and other African countries are further ahead than Europe and the US when it comes to this shift to mobile. They have effectively skipped the era of desktop computing,” said Oliva.

Though millions of people use their mobile devices to access Facebook out of the home, the study argues that the “phenomenon of at-home use while watching television that has interested many marketers”.

“Browsing Facebook via mobile with the television on in the background is something new, but it has already proved valuable for marketers. The synergies between the two media mean that cross platform advertising campaigns are turning out to be much more effective than the sum of their parts,” added Oliva.

Some key findings

• 80% of users use other devices while watching TV (second screening).
• 73% of users are on mobile phones.
• 9% of users are on tablets.
• 6% of users are on laptops.

Home and away, people access Facebook wherever they are

• 55% of people who use Facebook on mobile do so when they are out and about.
• 95% of people who use Facebook on mobile do so when they are at home.
• 40% check Facebook in bed when they wake up.
• 36% check Facebook in bed before they go to sleep.

Brands play a big part in people’s Facebook activity

• 62% of people who use Facebook said they had interacted with a brand.
• 71% of 12-24-year-olds said they had interacted with a brand.
• 52% of people using Facebook said that they were influenced by things they saw there.

Check out the infographic below for more.