Why is Facebook losing active users in Nigeria?

By Emeka Okoye

Facebook, the social network giant, has lost more than 1 million (24%) Nigerian users between January and April 2013, according to data from social media monitoring firm, SocialBakers (http://www.socialbakers.com/).

Facebook monthly active users (MAU) in Nigeria peaked at 6.5 million and by end of April they were down to 5.2 million but this does not mean that users have left Facebook altogether.

This means that over one million people have not logged into Facebook between January and April 2013. Nigeria is ranked 35 on the list of countries with most Facebook users.

Facebook , once the top social network in Nigeria, is now losing steam to mobile chat (messaging) and flirting platforms like 2go, Whatsapp, Badoo, Eskimi and other social networks like Twitter .

What can be attributed to this trend?
With my knowledge and insight on the mobile landscape and ecosystem in Africa and especially Nigeria, I have identified the factors behind this trend which can be attributed mostly to social behaviours and platform influence.

The factors are as follows:
- Facebook is still the platform of choice to make new friends or meeting people for the first time due to its large user base but once the friendships have been cultivated and cemented, Facebook loses its novelty in taking these friendships or relationships to the next level of socialization which requires real-time interactions like Whatsapp, 2go, Twitter .

- Facebook will continue to grow in registered users but the generation 'Z' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Z) and the earliest registered users seemed not to be too excited about using Facebook always.

- Facebook , with its huge digital assets and properties and the large business (advertising) content, is best experienced with smartphones. There are only 4 million smartphones out of the 100+ million phones in Nigeria. Facebook app is not efficient with data in a country where internet access and electricity has made browsing the web in a smartphone an expensive luxury.
- The majority of Facebook users, who are on feature phones are not having the same experience with that of smartphone users so they switch to other platforms where they can easily communicate with their friends singly or in group conversations and easily share photos and videos in real-time on feature phones with less keypad clicks practically for free. Facebook is simply too complex for these tasks.

- The likes of 2go, Whatsapp allows you to communicate with those you already have a relationship with, so most likely people are spending more time with those they know very well and they are not more than 10 meters away from their phone

- Whatsapp and 2go are known to perform well at low bandwidth connections and consume less data.

- The likes of Whatsapp and 2go are serving as a cheaper replacement for SMS among the youth (65% of Nigerians are youths).

The Shift

The shift towards real-time platforms is not only happening in Nigeria but in other African countries like South Africa and also in Asia like in Japan and Korea (http://twitter.com/emekaokoye/status/328832381337358336).

 In Nigeria, Twitter is gaining from the drop in Facebook active users (http://twitter.com/emekaokoye/status/335028543425740800). It is important to understand that emerging markets consume digital media in a different way to developed markets.

Also note that recently we’ve seen a lot of posts and news articles that analysts have predicted about the potential for chat apps to take over the role of SMS.

 In Nigeria, 2go has 13+ million users, whatsapp has an estimated 6 million users,Eskimi has more than 5 million users and Twitter has more than 3.5 million users.

In conclusion, Facebook has not delivered a simple, real-time and cost efficient experience to meet the needs of most of their users in Nigeria.

Color Emotion Guide

An infographic by the team at The Logo Company

16 Types of Students you meet in Campus [infographic]

If you have passed through the education system, you are sure to meet different characters. From the absentee classmates to teachers pet, these characters are permanent in almost all class settings. You may think you are the normal one, but you will be surprised your classmates think you are weird. Check out this infographic, where do you fall?

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Sequoia Wisdom for First Time Entrepreneur

Sequoia Capital is the most respected technology venture capital firm in the world.

They’ve backed companies that collectively are worth over 20% of the total value of the NASDAQ stock exchange: Apple, Oracle, Google, Electronic Arts, Linear Technology, PayPal,  Aruba, LinkedIn, Youtube, Zappos, Airbnb, etc.

They invest in people they call “The creative spirits. The underdogs. The resolute. The determined. The indefatigable. The defiant. The outsiders. The independent thinkers. The fighters. The true believers.”

On their website, they share for free numerous lessons learned over the years while working with world class entrepreneurs and companies.

“We shield ourselves from distractions. We value teamwork over showmanship. Listening beats talking. Teams, and gradual improvement of teams, are the secret to long-term success”. Those are said to be Sequoia’s core believes and culture code.

Below are Sequoia’s Top 10 recommendations for Startups.

1. Clarity of Purpose

Summarize the company’s business on the back of a business card.

2. Large Markets

Address existing markets poised for rapid growth or change. A market on the path to a $1B potential allows for error and time for real margins to develop.

3. Rich Customers

Target customers who will move fast and pay a premium for a unique offering.

4. Focus

Customers will only buy a simple product with a singular value proposition.

5. Pain Killers

Pick the one thing that is of burning importance to the customer then delight them with a compelling solution.

6. Think Differently

Constantly challenge conventional wisdom. Take the contrarian route. Create novel solutions. Outwit the competition.

7. Team DNA

A company’s DNA is set in the first 90 days. All team members are the smartest or most clever in their domain. “A” level founders attract an “A” level team.

8. Agility

Stealth and speed will usually help beat-out large companies.

9. Frugality

Focus spending on what’s critical. Spend only on the priorities and maximize profitability.

10. Inferno

Start with only a little money. It forces discipline and focus. A huge market with customers yearning for a product developed by great engineers requires very little firepower.

 By: Mawuna Remarque KOUTONIN

http://www.siliconafrica.com/

Infographic: Rise of the MOOCs

With a public four year in-state degree costing $89,044 on average it’s easy to see why anyone would be looking for alternatives. MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses, may be the solution. Since the first MOOC in 2008, this phenomenon has been spreading amongst very well accredited colleges. The movement has grown rapidly with over 100 courses already scheduled for 2013.

Application of Tech in Higher Education 

The world is going E, and so is college learning. From tablets such as the iPad to a widening expanse of electronic books available for purchase (and sometimes even for rent), the digital world is now a substantive part of the learning experience. And students say there should be more of it.
In a spring 2012 survey, two-thirds of students said they would like technology to play a greater role in their learning, including a greater use of netbooks, notebooks and tablets and an increased use of digital content. Even teachers say they want to integrate more digital content and more digital equipment into their classroom.
And these do not appear to be just wants. Students appear to be spending more of their discretionary money on technological devices. A recent study in the spring of 2012 showed that surveyed students planned to spend 227% more on technology in the 2012-13 school year than they did the year before.
Another 2012 study shows that college-age students use at least three technological devices daily and that most students don’t go more than an hour without using at least one of those devices. What gives? Turns out that students are interested in saving time. In fact, 90% of those surveyed students said that technological devices, including electronic textbooks, eReaders, mobile devices and tablets, help them to crunch time when it comes to studying. 
What are the newest digital trends in learning and how are they helpful to students?


Via: NerdWallet

Guidelines To Create Great Slogan

A slogan is an advertising tag-line or phrase that advertisers create to visually expresses the importance and benefits of their product. By and large, it’s a theme to a campaign that usually have a genuine role in people’s lives. It has the ability to loan people’s time and attention by putting consumers at the heart of the solution.

Here's the guidelines to creating a super cool slogan.

1. Identification. A good slogan must stay consistent with the brand name either obviously stated or strongly implied. It’s better to include the name of your business to it. Think KFC and their "It's Lickin Good"
2. Memorable. Some of the best taglines or slogans are still being used today, even though they were launched several years ago.
3. Beneficial. Reveal your purpose and benefits of the product by conveying the message in consumer language. Turn bad into good. Suggest the risk of not using the product. Create a positive feeling for the consumers. Think Coca Cola here....they've had several but think of Open Happiness, Coke side of life?
4. Differentiation. In an overcrowded market, companies on the same industry need to set themselves apart through their creative and original tagline or slogan. Think about FedEx....when there's no tomorrow.
5. Keep it simple. Use proven words and short keywords. One word is usually not enough, two or maybe three which is the most popular. Apple rocks here for me....Beauty outside, beast inside! Says so much about their brand.