Why African social networks kick Facebook's mobile experience in the ass

11 Sep 2012

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the rest of their ilk are taking over the world, right, and forming a homogenous mass of consumer data and eyeballs across the globe from which no one can escape. Or not.

Definitely not when one considers the local and regional social networks springing up, particularly in Africa. A key differentiator of these networks is often that they better serve the mobile market - usually because this is their primary or only market - whether on smartphones or not so smart phones.

...Facebook has been talking the talk about being a mobile company for some time, but I'd suggest it would do well to take a peek at what's happening in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and other mobile-first countries. A perfect storm of love for social networking and a MacGyverish approach to making stuff work - especially if it involves a cellphone - is resulting in regional mobile social networks gaining traction across the continent.

Two examples presented at Mobile Entertainment Africa in Cape Town at the end of August: the grand-daddy of mobile social networking, Mxit, chatting about improving its user experience for all mobile users; and newcomer 2go, sharing some staggering adoption rates and insight into what makes mobile chat users tick.

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Vanessa Clark

About Vanessa Clark

Hi! I'm a freelance journalist, copywriter and editor based in Cape Town, South Africa. I write as a journalist and for corporates and agencies. My specialties are business-to-business and technology writing. I like unpacking complex ideas so they are more easily understood - especially when it involves innovation taking place in South Africa, and the rest of Africa.