12.13.2: Social and Personal
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Social media growth is another trend that continues. Facebook now has over one billion users! In 2013, 80% of Facebook users were outside of the US and Canada. [1] Countries where Facebook is growing rapidly include Indonesia, Mexico, and the Philippines. [2]
Besides Facebook, other social media sites are also seeing tremendous growth. Over 70% of YouTube’s users are outside the US, with the UK, India, Germany, Canada, France, South Korea, and Russia leading the way. [3] Pinterest gets over 50% of its users from outside the US, with over 9% from India. [4] Twitter now has over 230 million active users. [5] Social media sites not based in the US are also growing. China’s QQ instant-messaging service is the eighth most-visited site in the world. [6]
Ever since the advent of Web 2.0 and e-commerce, users of information systems have expected to be able to modify their experiences to meet their personal tastes. From custom backgrounds on computer desktops to unique ringtones on mobile phones, makers of digital devices provide the ability to personalize how we use them. More recently, companies such as Netflix have begun assisting their users with personalizations by making suggestions. In the future, we will begin seeing devices perfectly matched to our personal preferences, based upon information collected about us in the past.