A local business conducting surveys has released the latest statistics on Iranians’ activities on social media.
The survey conducted by Nazar Bazaar indicates that Telegram messaging application is far ahead of its rivals.
It said 3,700 people were questioned from which 86% said they currently use Telegram for messaging friends and relatives.
According to the survey 70% of Telegram users, use the application to stay in touch with their peers while 18% use it mostly for entertainment.
Furthermore, half the number polled said they trust and prefer the news they get through Telegram channels over traditional forms of media.
Data shows that the Telegram Messenger now has 170,000 Persian-language channels, 11,000 of which have more than 5,000 members. An estimated 45 million Iranians actively use the app.
The photo and video sharing application Instagram is the second most popular social media application in Iran. The survey found 77% of the participants were active on Instagram.
Furthermore, the study indicates that the number of Iranian female users is slightly bigger compared to males.
According to the survey, 80% of women participants are active on Instagram while the number for men is some 74%
In addition to Telegram, 73% of the participants use another messaging application WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook.
While Telegram’s voice calls are blocked in Iran, WhatsApp continues to offer a similar service which explains why several users are using two messaging applications simultaneously.
Similar to Telegram, WhatsApp is mostly used as a means of communication but does not offer channels like Telegram.
Facebook, however, has lost ground to other applications since it was blocked in Iran back in 2009.
Only 29% of those asked have an account on Facebook, and 70% of them said they do not visit the website on a regular basis.
Furthermore, 45% of the participants use the site for entertainment and 25% use it to stay in touch with family and friends.
Similar to Telegram, only 46% of Facebook users trust the news they get through the website, indicating a pattern of mistrust to news published on the social media site.
The business- and employment-oriented social networking remains a niche service Iran but hardly 24% have an account on the website.
The website is mainly used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs and job seekers posting CVs. This service apparently is not known to large sections of the society.
Unlike its peers, when users were questioned how much they trust the data published on the website, 52% responded in the affirmative.
Other applications and services like Tumbler, Twitter, and Google+ are still not popular in Iran, and less than 10% of those questioned are active on them.
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