Social Media & Internet Use in Ghana• By Mac-Jordan D. Degadjor

@MacJordan Facebook.com/macjordangh

A Little bit about me..

• Mac-Jordan D. Degadjor• Blogger & Digital Web Activist & a

Geek• Regional Editor – Africa on

http://futurechallenges.org• Contributing Author – Global Voices

Online; http://globalvoicesonline.org• Proud member of the

http://sandbox-network.com community of extraordinary young achievers between 20 and 30.

• Member of the prestigious Ghana Blogging Group; http://ghanablogging.com

• Two blogs & several articles on Social Media, ICT4D, Local Content Development & Mobile Technology

http://accraconsciousforever.blogspot.com

http://macjordangh.wordpress.com

What is social media?

Why is Social Media “Social”?• Its platform provides opportunities for people to share opinions,

insights, experiences and perspectives in a two-way communication process.

• Apart from exchange of ideas and skills, it also allows instantaneous and spontaneous response and reactions from the users. The social interaction is Real, Live, Un-interrupted and Un-edited.

• Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web(source: Huffington Post)

• Social Media isn't a fad, it's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate these days.

5 BIGGEST SOCIAL MEDIA Excuses, Myths, Fears

• 1. "Social Media is a Waste of time“

•2. "No Return on Investment“

•3. "I don't have any Technical Experience“

•4. "I tried it and it didn't work“

•5. "Social Media is hard work"

% of Millennials have joined a social network

* (Source: Grunwald Associates National Study- Trendsspotting Blog)

Social Media Tools. • User-created text, audio, video and multimedia that are

shared in a social environment. The tools use software that permits individuals and groups to create and exchange contents while engaging in peer-to-peer conversations.

If Facebook were a country, it would be a the world's 3rd LARGEST.

• 1. China• 2. India• 3. Facebook• 4. United States• 5. Indonesia• 6. Brazil• 7. Pakistan• 8. Bangladesh• 9. Nigeria

(Source: Facebook)

• More than 500 million active users• 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any

given day via Mobile/PC• Average user has 130 friends• People spend over 700 billion minutes per month

on Facebook• There are more than 200 million active users

currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.

• According to CheckFacebook: The number of people in Ghana (including Expats, legal & illegal migrants) on Facebook is approximately 700,000 active users.• Whiles the number of active users in Nigeria is about 2,102,210. • FACT: People living in Ghana spends a lot of time on the Social Media Platform (Facebook) than those in Nigeria. •Total Number of Online Population on Facebook from Ghana is 79.14% whiles Nigeria with its huge active users have only 21.02% online. •According to InternetWorldStats; Ghana’s internet penetration is at 5.3% with 1,297,000 internet users as of June, 2010. This is a big improvement of last year’s stats of 4.2% with 997,000 of internet users as of June/2009.•What is the causing the difference in the HUGE numbers?

Twitter -

• About 375,000 NEW users are signing up every day!

• 160 million registered users around the world.• Over 90 million Tweets (updates) per day. • Twitter = the easiest network to grow a large

audience. • Engage + Interact + Share = earn trust

• It has also created a unique entrepreneur. Every user has the ability to be a producer and consumer of information through the platforms.

• The dual roles of the target audience have compelled traditional communication practices to adopt and apply the new technology found in New Media.

• The magazines, newspapers, television, corporate organizations and radio stations are all joining the bandwagon in ensuring that they don’t lose their audiences who have embraced the phenomena.

• In Ghana, some media houses & personalities are also using Social Media to broadcast their news items apart from the normal radio broadcasting.

• Other individuals are also using Social Media to push their interests on social/political issues to the masses.

Cultural Concepts of Social Media• Social media has eliminated cultural and

sociological barriers and pulled down boundaries that separate nations and communities from instant communication.

• People from diverse backgrounds closely and socially interact in the platforms without an intermediary’s interruption

• 78% of Social Media folks in Ghana trust peer recommendation whiles only 14% trust advertisements

My Ghanaian Tech buddies; Ato Kwamena-Appiah & TED Fellow; Henry Addo with Masai folks in Nairobi, Kenya during Maker Faire Africa.

Traditional Media Agencies in Ghana

• GBC ( Nationwide)• Joy 99.7 FM• Peace 104.3 FM• Radio Universe 105.7• Yfm 107.9 FM • Volta Premier (Ho)• Melody 91.1 FM (Takoradi)

•Skyy Power 93.5 FM (Takoradi)•Radio Justice (Tamale)• Citi 97.3 FM

Thanks for your time

Any Questions?