Social networking in developing regions

  • Authors:

  • Azarias Reda;Sam Shah;Mitul Tiwari;Anita Lillie;Brian Noble

  • Affiliations:

  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI;LinkedIn, Mountain View, CA;LinkedIn, Mountain View, CA;LinkedIn, Mountain View, CA;University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development
  • Year:
  • 2012

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Abstract

Online social networks have enjoyed significant growth over the past several years. With improvements in mobile and Internet penetration, developing countries are participating in increasing numbers in online communities. This paper provides the first large scale and detailed analysis of social networking usage in developing country contexts. The analysis is based on data from LinkedIn, a professional social network with over 120 million members worldwide. LinkedIn has members from every country in the world, including millions in Africa, Asia, and South America. The goal of this paper is to provide researchers a detailed look at the growth, adoption, and other characteristics of social networking usage in developing countries compared to the developed world. To this end, we discuss several themes that illustrate different dimensions of social networking use, ranging from interconnectedness of members in geographic regions to the impact of local languages on social network participation.