Africa: Diversify or Die - Africa's Remaining Social Media Contender Eskimki Survives Facebook Onslaught and Smartphones

Regional players have come and gone but Facebook and Google are Africa's dominant social media players. The only platform really giving them any serious competition is a Lithuanian mobile social platform called Eskimi. Russell Southwood spoke to its CEO Vytas Paukstys about how it has made the transition to smartphones and is diversifying its business offer.

Facebook dominates the African social media market and has the numbers by country to prove it. But there are no African numbers for Instagram, WhatsApp or Twitter. For all its famed talk about online market transparency, Google gives out few user numbers for Google Search, You Tube or Google+. From market research Balancing Act did in 2013, it appears that the latter has a foothold in only a limited number of African countries. Elsewhere in the world, the pattern seems to be that there is usually a local challenger often in a vernacular language. Nothing like this has yet emerged in Africa.

...

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.