China social networking sites statistics 2009

CNNIC released a report on China social networking sites (SNS) at the end of 2009 and I’m here to share some key findings:
• By the end of 2009, the number of Chinese online social media users is about to reach 124 million.
• Every social media user owns on average 2.78 social media accounts.
• Top 5 social networking sites (SNS): QQ alumni (50%), Renren (37%), Sina Space (36.6%), 51.com (27.1%), and Kaixin001 (26.4%).
• The male to female ratio in SNS users is 52.9:47.1.
• Majority of SNS users are youth (52.6%).
• 17.8% of China SNS users’ monthly income is over RMB 3,000, higher than 13.4% Chinese netizens.
• 47.5 of SNS users’ month income is lower than RMB 1,000, also higher than the percentage of overall Chinese netizens (44.2%).
• 59.1% of Chinese SNS users own college degree and above, 34% higher than over Chinese netizens.
China Social Networking Sites Usage
• Almost 80% SNS users are referred by friends, classmates, or colleagues.
• 75.8% indicate their SNS friends are friends in real life.
• 34.3% SNS users visit social networking sites every day while about 40.2% visit SNS once a week or longer.
• Over half SNS users spend no longer than one hour daily on SNS sites; 26.6% between one to two hours; 12.8% over two hours.
• China SNS users are mostly interested in status and photo album updates from friends.
• Sending messages and uploading photos are the two most popular activities on SNS.
Which Social Networking Site to Choose?
• 63.5% users pick the number of known friends, classmates, and colleagues on a social network as the top reason for choosing that network.
• 32.4% users find it important to get useful information on a social network
• Having lots of interesting topics is important to 21.4% users for choosing that social networking site
• 18.4% find a social networking site attractive if it provides lots of online games
The primary purpose of logging in a social network is entertainment for over 42.4% users being interviewed. 27.4% just log in to play games.