India is the 3rd largest Facebook user.

http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2012/06/india-is-3rd-largest-facebook-user.html

India has become the the 3rd largest  Facebook user with 46 Million active participants. Ahead of us is Brazil with 48 Million and of course United States with 156 Million subscribers. Can we edge up to be #2? Yes, we can.

Face book is the best thing that has happened to the civilized world. If you are a facebook member, you may want to see the slide show about facebook. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=851280248&aid=426528

There are several of us who have been blessed with 5000 friendship on the Facebook in the first year. When I wrote about the essence of Janmashtami, nearly 100 Hindus became friends immediately, when I addressed the Immigration rally down town, about 200 Mexicans became friends, and when I wrote about Israel and Palestine dialogue, 100 Jews and Palestinians joined in….

As a Pluralist, I speak, write and blog about Pluralism, Politics and Foreign affairs. I am blessed to connect with all of God’s creation- Thanks to the face book.

Please join me at www.facebook.com/speakermikeghouse and put this Indian among the top speakers on Pluralism….

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America; if you are an Indian American and want to serve America, you can also join me at facebook at www.facebook.com/AmericansTogether

The Future of Facebook Is in India

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-31/the-future-of-facebook-is-in-india

By 2015, India will have more Facebook (FB) users than any other country on Earth—tilting the social networking action away from the West and toward one of the fastest-growing emerging markets on the planet.

As of right now, India has close to 46,307,580 Facebook users, according to Social bakers, a social media analytics firm in London. This makes India the third-biggest Facebook market, behind the U.S., now at 156,830,580 users, and Brazil, with 48,041,640.

According to Eleanor Armitage, a Socialbakers spokeswoman, the number of Indian Facebook users is growing 22 percent every six months, meaning that India will edge out the U.S. toward the end of 2014, when both countries are expected to have 170 million to 175 million members.

Prasant Naidu, who blogs about social networking in India at LighthouseInsights, attributes Facebook’s explosive growth in the subcontinent to its huge, mostly untapped market. (India has more than 1.2 billion people, and Facebook users constitute less than 4 percent of the population, compared with 51 percent in the U.S.)

Also, Facebook has aggressively targeted younger people. Says Cara Pring, a social media blogger in Sydney: “While it’s common to see a slight overrepresentation of younger age groups (i.e., 18 to 34) on social media channels, in India this group represents a huge 76 percent of all Facebook users. It’s clear that this age group is driving the social media revolution within the country.”

In 2010, Facebook opened an office in Hyderabad, India’s high-tech hub. Naidu says this has helped the company market to advertisers and forge agreements with cell-phone service providers—important in a country where most Facebook users log on via hand-held devices. (Facebook India did not reply to several messages.)

Pring adds that Indians view social networking differently than Americans do. Indians, she says, “want to use social networking in the real, true sense of the term—to grow their network in a social manner using whatever platforms are available to them. That doesn’t mean just the people they know. They are eager to connect with anyone they find interesting or that has something in common anywhere around the world. This is also why Twitter has exploded in India, because approval isn’t required to follow someone on the network.”

Of course, it’s unclear how long Facebook will remain the dominant social networking site on the planet—or if something newer, faster, better than social networking will replace social networking altogether. Facebook’s unimpressive IPO earlier this month has raised questions about its long-term marketability. And in many countries where Facebook’s penetration rate is at or above the 50 percent mark—the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, and Taiwan, among others—Facebook is growing very slowly and, in some cases, shedding users.

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MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly