By Yoon Sung-won
Image-based social networking services (SNS) such as Instagram and Snapchat are dramatically boosting their user bases and value as influential advertising channels in Korea, threatening other dominant services such as Facebook and Twitter, data showed Wednesday.
According to internet industry research company Kantar TNS, Wednesday, 52 percent of survey respondents in Korea said they use Instagram, jumping from 20 percent in 2014. In the same period, 19 percent said they use Snapchat, up from 8 percent.
Global survey results showed usage rates of Instagram and Snapchat were up 42 percent and 23 percent, respectively, from 24 percent and 12 percent during the two-year period. Considering that 61 percent of respondents said they use Facebook and only 33 percent said they are Twitter users, the surge of Instagram and Snapchat’s popularity is noteworthy, the report said.
Kantar TNS published the report, titled “Connected Life 2016,” based on its research on about 70,000 internet users in 57 countries.
“The growth of Instagram and Snapchat shows that consumers are very enthusiastic about expressing themselves through images,” said Zoe Lawrence, Kantar TNS’s Asia-Pacific digital director.
26 percent of respondents said they disregard social postings and online ads of businesses while 40 percent aged between 16 and 24 answered that they care about what other online users think of certain brands.
Kantar TNS pointed out its data shows the strong influence of proper advertising and marketing practices on SNS.
“Businesses should make efforts to produce content that lives up to a platform’s characteristics,” Lawrence said.
Meanwhile, Kantar TNS said Naver’s LINE has recorded solid growth in the number of users among instant messaging services. In particular, LINE has been named as the most-used messenger service in Taiwan, Thailand and Japan with 91 percent, 92 percent and 31 percent market shares, respectively.