There can never be a conversation of a Digital Economy without the social aspects of the same, and social media networks are at the centre of that subject, even in South Africa.

Your business or brand in South Africa, can no longer afford to ignore YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, the most popular social media networks used in the country according to a Global Digital Report published in January 2019.

We have also included intelligence on Snapchat and Pinterest as they are also followed in the millions but not as the big five.

Contrary to popular belief, YouTube is the most used social media network, followed by Facebook, then Instagram.

WhatsApp, Messenger, Skype, and WeChat are social media messaging applications, not included in this article as it is focusing on networks, with a drive to provide insight for business and brands.

Many businesses in South Africa and the continent at large, are not well informed of the benefits of Social Media, as they are of the scandals publicized thereof, bringing a fear and hesitation for business use.

Be that may, there are 30 million South Africans using the internet at present, and 23 million of them said they have used Social Media, making that at least 40% of the population of the country.

It is important to note that on average 40% to 70% of these social media network users are available for advertising as data received from the networks themselves.

Read more in Cabanga Magazine.