Social Networking Important To Expats

A survey of Expats around the world has found that social networking facilities are invaluable when staying in touch with friends and family

London, UK (Pryce Warner International) December 5th, 2011 – Though email remains the most common way Expats keep in contact with friends and family from home, more and more people are turning to Twitter and especially Skype.

The free computer-based phone service is used by 36% of Expats, for whom it is the primary and in some cases sole means of catching up.

52% of people said they used email twice a week or more, while only 39% said that they used Facebook that frequently.

Digital methods rated much more highly than traditional means. Landlines and mobile phones were only used by 14% and 16% of respondents. This is reportedly as digital facilities are much cheaper to use.

Of the new digital means of communication, Facebook was found to be the most popular, with 70% of Expats using it.

However, MySpace and Twitter were much less popular, with only 14% and 2% respectively using the social networking sites. LinkedIn was used by 40% of respondents. Individuals said that MySpace was rarely used as it is geared more towards younger users and is less geared towards staying in touch with relatives as the alternatives.

But social media is not just to stay in touch with friends and relatives. Many rely on social networking sites to meet new people when they first move and help themselves get settled in.

Twitter proved to be the most popular for this, as users can pick and choose who they follow and find people with the most relevant information fairly easily. Small business owners have also found the sites useful in engaging with local people and offering means of cheap and accurate marketing.

Skype also conducted a similar study recently, which found that people are 50% more willing to move abroad now than in the past few years, largely as technology has made the process much easier and allows individuals to stay in touch with friends and family so easily.

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By Aneil Fatania
Financial Editor
Pryce Warner International Group
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