“Indeed, as Asian digital communities – from Chennai to Chengdu to Cairns – increasingly spend time consuming information and dynamic content from online sources, we are witnessing a shift in magnitude in how companies need to plan and manage communications for the future. The possibilities are exciting”. – Bob Pickard, Asia-Pacific president and CEO, Burson-Marsteller (BM).
The rise of social media
Data shows that the spread of the Internet and the growing use of social media in Asia Pacific are amazing.
Already 58 percent of Asia Pacific’s population of 3.9 billion is online – with Australia and South Korea leading at 80-percent penetration rate; and Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong rounding up the Region’s top five.
ASEAN member-states have also been experiencing spectacular Internet growth rates and reasonable Internet penetration rates. But the real story is the rise of mobile phones in the ASEAN region. Many analysts are predicting that with the increasing widespread use of smart phones, most of ASEAN’s citizens would eventually use mobile devices as the primary tool to access the Internet.
Please visit http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=722781 to read more comprehensive figures from the Philippine Star’s Robert Romulo cites B-M Asia-Pacific’s Social Media Infographics in this week’s column on the ‘realities and imperatives’ of the digital age.