Social media growth may get affected in coming years: Gartner

NEW DELHI: The privacy concerns along with cultural fabric have got potential to impact social media growth in India as compared to other countries, said a new report from research firm Gartner. It has been found that the social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter enjoy large subscriber base in India. And the social media landscape is slated to continue with the expansion of their base in India.

Gartner Research VP Rakesh Kumar said, “India is poised to become one of the world's biggest consumer economies in the coming five years. By 2014, it is expected to have more than one billion mobile subscribers and will also see significant roll-out of new IT infrastructure in both public and private sectors.”

Kumar said that the growth of social media may witness slowdown in the upcoming five years and may reach lower levels as compared to other countries.
Reports suggest that India is among one of the important markets for the social networking website Facebook. Other networking websites like LinkedIn is seeing steady growth in India.
Kumar further elaborated that firms, mainly in sectors such as FMCG, consumer durables, auto and telecom are using the social media to communicate with consumers for their feedback.