Information technology research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. said in its latest report on worldwide social media usage that that the Philippines leads Asia in terms of its adoption of "major global operators" of social media.

"While Asia's biggest economies have been slow to embrace the global social communities of Facebook, Yahoo and Twitter, many countries in the region have followed the adoption patterns of Europe and the US. The most avid social networkers are in the Philippines, where Facebook is the country's most visited Internet site," thereport said.

The report noted that countries in the Asia Pacific region —particularly China, Japan, South Korea, and India— have developed their own social network services and consumption habits that are distinct from North American and European markets. According to the report, this divergence from Western consumption patterns is spurred largely by high consumer interest in services such as online gaming and matchmaking.

Moreover, according to the report, such niche content has proven to be a lucrative growth driver for locally developed social sites, such as Cyworld, Mixi and Renren.

"Niche social sites serving the business and dating communities appear to have the greatest longevity in Asia Pacific. Building an early critical mass of local users, featuring local language and content provides a good basis for sustaining a long term and loyal user base," explained Gartner research director Nick Ingelbrecht.

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