A report released Wednesday by ComScore, a digital market analysis firm, finds that Colombia is the world’s fifteenth biggest user of Twitter relative to Internet-connected population.
According to the study, 9.6% of over-15s with web access visit the site.
Twitter users in Colombia are outnumbered by their eastern neighbors Venezuela, who surged to third place with a 19% penetration.
Venezuela’s charge up the rankings “was fueled in large part by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s decision to join Twitter in late April,” according to a ComScore press release. Since his joining Twitter, use in Venezuela “spiked 4.8 percentage points.”
Despite Chavez’s efforts, Colombia’s neighbors trailed behind Indonesia in first place (20.8%) and second-place Brazil (20.5%). Also in the top twenty were the Latin American nations Mexico (8th, 13.4%), Chile (10th, 13.2%) and Argentina (14th, 10.5%).
Worldwide, Twitter use rose 109% from 44,520,000 unique visitors in June 2009 to 92,874,000 in June 2010. Latin America registered the highest rate of growth, leaping from 3,792,000 visitors to 15,377,000 in twelve months – a 305% increase.
Chavez is not the only Latin American politician to make use of the social networking forum, with Colombians such as former President Alvaro Uribe and controversial politician Piedad Cordoba using Twitter to make announcements and launch campaigns.
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