News
Over 3.4bn People to Use Social Media by 2023
An estimated 3.43 billion people will be using social media networks By 2023, a figure representing 44% of the estimated 7.79 billion global population.
This is according to a report issued by BuyShares, which gathers data sourced from eMarketer, and provides information on global social media user numbers and app downloads, as of June 2020.
The report notes that in 2019, social network users stood at 2.95 billion, a growth of 6.11% from the 2018 figure of 2.78 billion. Next year, about 3.21 billion people will be using social networks, with this number forecast to grow to 3.32 billion in 2022.
Over the last decade, the lowest number of people on social network platforms was in 2010 at 0.97 billion, a growth of 217.52% by 2020 estimates, notes the report.
According to the report, Facebook-owned networks continue to dominate the industry. The social media giant owns four out of the top five most downloaded apps worldwide: WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.
An overview of the top social networking app downloads in the Apple App Store and Android’s Google Play worldwide shows Facebook-owned networks are leading the pack.
WhatsApp Messenger has the highest downloads at 8.62 million on iOS and 116 million on Android, followed by Facebook with 6.86 million downloads on iOS and 1.1 billion downloads on Android.
Instagram recently struck the one billion downloads mark on the Google Play Store. Facebook Messenger follows with 6.79 million iOS downloads and 73 million downloads on Android.
In the last quarter of 2019, Facebook netted almost 2.9 billion downloads from phone users across all app stores globally, according to app intelligence monitor Sensor Tower.
With over 2.6 billion monthly active users, Facebook remains the biggest social network worldwide.
TikTok has thrived during the global pandemic, with Sensor Tower reporting that the social media platform has been downloaded more than two billion times globally.
The video-sharing app has also taken South Africa by storm. It was the biggest social media sensation of 2019, and is continuing its momentum in the youth market in 2020, according to the South African Social Media Landscape 2020 report, by World Wide Worx and Ornico.
Justinas Baltrusaitis, who compiled the BuyShares report, says in the coming years, various factors are set to influence the growth of social networks.
“In the last 10 years, the social network industry was largely based on alternating monopolies, underpinned by extraordinary growth. As highlighted, Facebook owns the majority of networks like Instagram and WhatsApp, which are popular among young people. However, there might be a shift considering that new platforms like TikTok are coming up targeting specifically young people.”
Globally, according to BuyShares, Chinese-based WeChat counts over 3.3 million downloads on iOS and 5.8 million on Android. This is followed by Telegram Messenger at 2.89 million downloads on iOS and 5.4 million on Android. As to chat platforms for gamers, Discord has 2.09 million downloads on iOS and 1.6 million on Android. Tencent-owned QQ has 1.63 million iOS downloads and 188 000 Android downloads.
With the social networks projected to keep growing, it will be interesting to know if the current networks will remain dominant. In the next decade, social networking sites might transform further to provide a fragmented assortment of platforms with increased niche communities meant for different demographics, notes BuyShares.
“New networks will emerge while old ones might fall or struggle to stay afloat. The evolution of smartphone technology will also offer new iterations on old ideas of social media. The growth of the smartphone industry has been rapid.
Smartphones have transcended their primary function and turned into a tiny computer, fundamentally used to interface with an increasingly cloud-based Internet. Social network companies will keep leveraging this capability,” according to Baltrusaitis.
CommunicationsWeek Media Limited, a certified global ICT company with over two million online subscribers, is delighted and proud to announce Prof. Yakub Aliyu, as the keynote speaker at Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Distinguished Lecture series 2024.
Aliyu, will be speaking on the theme: Artificial Intelligence (AI): The Good, The Complex and The Anticipated”, this leans heavily on the fact that AI changing our lives– we just need to know where to look today.
This year’s rebranded Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Distinguished Lecture/Awards Series is slated for Saturday, May 25, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton, Lagos.
The event is the most prestigious annual event that brings together captains of industry in both technology and financial worlds.
According to Ken Nwogbo, CEO, Communication Week Media Ltd, organisers of the ABoICT Distinguished Lecture/Awards Series, “the choice of Prof. Yakub Aliyu is deliberate because of his exceptional career in Artificial Intelligence (AI)”.
He added that, AI is considered to have the potential to instigate a fourth industrial revolution,1 and is dramatically changing people’s patterns of interaction and economic activities.
“The traditional factors of production and physical capital and labour may no longer promote substantial economic growth. It is generally believed that AI will be one of the most important factors determining future economic growth,” he said.
A professor of microelectronics and a scholar-practitioner in artificial intelligence and deep machine learning for industrial applications and high-speed application processors. His research interests include Multimodal AI models for high-efficiency industrial robot applications and Human AI interactions.
He also has adjunct academic professorships at five African, USA, and UK universities. Holds a BS in Applied Physics Electronics from Karlsruhe and A Bello Universities in Germany and Nigeria, an MBA in International Business Management from the University of London, an MSEE (Master of Engineering, Electronics), and a Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering from the University of Wales.
Prof. Aliyu is the global quality director for Bourns Inc., Riverside, California, USA, an electronics system, and components manufacturer. I oversee quality functions in 21 factories worldwide.
He has also held quality and operational management leadership positions at National Semiconductors, Bell Labs-Lucent Technology, Texas Instrument, Global Foundries, and Roper Technologies USA.
Authored and coauthored over 30 Advanced Technology United States-issued patents in High-Speed Application Processors and Contributed to over 40 international impact Journals, chapters, and conferences; FASI, SMIEEE USA, MIEE UK, M. Inst pf Physics Chartered Phys and C Eng UK.
Past lecturers included Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, then executive vice chairman, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC); Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa, former Director-General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); Dr. Jean Luc Fort, CEO at OR System France and a specialist in Counterparty Risk; and Professor Chris Nwagboso, Chairman, Knowledge Factory International, United Kingdom.
Others are: Uche Orji, managing director/chief executive officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA); Biodu Omoniyi, Managing Director/CEO, VDT Communications; Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director, Rack Centre Limited; Peter Adedayo Arogundade, managing director and chief executive officer, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited; Dr. Adewale Obadare, chief visionary officer, Digital Encode and John Obaro, CEO and founder of Systemspecs; Prof. Isa Pantanmi, minister of Communications and Digital Economy; Dr. Seyi Akindeind, co-founder, Digital Encode; Dr Krishnan Ranganath, Regional Director, Africa Data Centres.
Legit.ng recently joined forces with the Shade of Life Foundation to become a voice of autism, and drive advocacy for improved media support during Autism Awareness Month.
Participants at the event
Conversations around media support exploration was led by Joseph Omotayo, head of Department for Human Interest Stories at Legit.ng, and Dr. Eziafakaku Nwokolo, founder and CEO of the Shade of Life Foundation,
This partnership is a response to the concerns raised by organizations like the Shade of Life Foundation about the level of support received from the media in discussing autism as a disability.
While other disabilities may receive attention, autism, with its critical developmental implications often lacks adequate representation in mainstream media.
Recognizing the importance of addressing these concerns, Legit.ng took proactive steps by integrating itself into the essence of autism awareness.
It facilitated a one-hour workshop with Dr. Nwokolo, the founder of the foundation, to deepen our understanding of autism, its various spectrums, and the language boundaries associated with it.
Other steps we took in advocating autism awareness in the media, can be seen in our attached press release.
Legit.ng believes that by amplifying the voices of autism and advocating for better media representation, we can contribute to creating a more inclusive and accepting society for all.
While 85 per cent of Nigeria is in darkness, Tanzania, an African country has shut down five hydroelectric stations in a bid to reduce excess electricity in the national grid.
Kassim Majaliwa, prime minister, Tanzania, has said the main plant, Mwalimu Nyerere Hydroelectric Station, alone generated enough electricity to power major cities, including Dar es Salaam, the country’s commercial hub.
It is the first time Tanzania, which suffers chronic power shortages, has closed hydroelectric stations due to excess production.
“We have turned off all these stations because the demand is low and the electricity production is too much, we have no allocation now,” an official from state-run power company, Tanesco, said.
The 2,115MW Julius Nyerere Hydropower Dam is said to be almost filled with water following heavy rains that started early this year.
Meanwhile, while the country has an installed capacity of 1,938MW and the grid installed capacity of 1,899MW, Nigeria which has an installed capacity of 13,000MW is struggling to electrify 85 per cent of its electricity consumers.
Paga Hits N14tri Transactions Value in 15 Years
Prof. Aliyu, AI Practitioner to Keynote ABoICT 2024
Dufil Prima Foods Brings Relief to Indigent Families in Abeokuta
Wale Owoeye Shines among Nigeria’s Top 50 Digital Economy Leaders
The NCC, Telcos and the Tariff Discourse
See Full List of Fake Loan Apps Blacklisted By CBN
CBN Sacks another 50 Staff, 117 Disengaged in 20 Days
AfDB, AGF Partner on Female Entrepreneurs’ Access to Finance
Nigeria Plans AI Strategy Workshop for National Development
IMF says Rising Cyber Threats Pose Serious Concerns for Financial Stability
News3 days agoUK Pledges €1Bn to Fight against Malaria in Nigeria
Broadcasting3 days agoFCCPC to Review Multichoice’s Tariff Hike
News2 days agoLegit.ng, Shade of Life Foundation Partner to Advance Autism Awareness in Nigeria
Editorial3 days agoTelcos Ask NCC to Allow Them Hike Tariff
News2 days agoPresident Tinubu Appoints Jim Ovia as Student Loan Fund Chairman
Telecom2 days agoAirtel Nigeria Leads Telecom Market Surge
News2 days agoAs Nigeria Struggle, Tanzania Turns off Power Plants Due to Excess Supply
E-Financial2 days agoCIBN says Recapitalization will Empower Banks to Lend more to Economy