India has just surpassed Indonesia to become the top Facebook nation outside the US. India now has 43.49 million users on Facebook against Indonesia’s 43.05 million users. India is ahead of Indonesia only by a whisker but that’s a lead India’s bound to keep. If we go with the 100 million Internet users in India statistic, 44% of online Indians are on Facebook. That’s commendable for a single website which does nothing but generate a whole lot of chatter and let you who liked which chatter.

Facebook has become almost synonymous to Internet in India. Travel on a train or a bus and the term Facebook will not elude you. “Yeah, he left a message on my Facebook” is the common expression.

Facebook might even surpass Email in India. There was a recent brand study which listed Nokia as a top brand in India ahead of Tata. That study only takes listed companies into consideration. With the impending Facebook IPO, which is supposed to be technology world’s largest ever; Facebook might become the top brand in India in 2013.

Nokia’s passé. It’s Food, Water and Facebook for India now

Facebook has become such a phenomenon that mobile phones are being sold on the USP of Facebook and Twitter as apps. And Facebook’s own initiative of Facebook on every phone is helping matters a lot.

Sure India’s getting on to Facebook. But is there any other reason for India being the second most populous nation on Facebook? Of course there is: Facebook’s not allowed in China. If and when that happens, India’s second position will be short-lived. Thanks to its 1.2 billion populations and 100 million online populations, India will not slip any further. Unless of course India’s youth is not bored by Facebook as being circulated in some parts of the media.

Whatever happened to Google+?

Remember Google+? India was one of the top nations on Google+ when it was launched. I haven’t checked but it might still be one of the top nations. Yet Google+ failed to garner the same kind of adoration as Facebook. Despite Facebook’s privacy concerns and Google+’s advanced privacy settings, people are still on Facebook. May be because, their friends are on Facebook. Or may be Facebook is simple to use.

Via Financial Chronicle