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How the World Uses Social Networks [INFOGRAPHIC]

Social networks in every country might live on the same Internet, but that doesn't prevent differences in online customs and culture from developing along geographic borders.

Ongoing market research service Global Web Index has mapped these differences in the infographic above (click it to enlarge).

The research, run by London-based consultancy Trendstream, has conducted six waves of surveys about global consumer adoption of the Internet and social media in 36 markets. It used data from its February 2011 surveys of between 750 and 2,000 online users in each market to define three behavior types: messagers, groupers and content sharers.

In some countries, many of them Asian, most people were focused on content sharing. Others, like the UK and Canada, had more people who put a greater emphasis on sending messages.

Trendstream also used data from the survey to map social network penetration in each country that it surveyed.

Does the way any country uses social networks surprise you? Let us know in the comments.

More About: global web index, infographic, social media, social networks, trending, Trendstream

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Number Picture: Data Visualization via Programmable Templates

Number Picture [numberpicture.com] is a web application that enables the creation of custom-made visualizations and infographics through the (re)coding of a collection of open templates. In a way, it takes the concept of social visualization (e.g. Many Eyes) one step further, as it goes beyond offering powerful tools to visualize data to the masses. In addition, Number Picture attempts to crowd-source the creation of the visualization tools themselves, here through the use of templates.

According to the 'About' page, the goal of the service is to provide a "refreshing change to all the millions and billions of bar graphs and pie charts that we see in our everyday lives" and to increase the usage of other visualizations outside of the pie chart, which was invented in 1801 ("Yes, that's right, he [William Playfair] invented the Pie Chart").

Data that can be copied and pasted into the template from Excel, while custom-made templates can be added through the use of Processing.js programming. Few examples are available at the moment, but that should be solved shortly, I guess.

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Diagram.ly - Drag & Drop Diagram Creation

JGraph is a UK company that develops and supports graph visualization software and web services. One of the free services they offer is a diagram creation tool called Diagram.ly. Diagram.ly offers a drag and drop interface for creating diagrams using clip art and pre-drawn shapes. Using the service does not require registration and all of your diagrams can be saved to your local computer in your choice of four formats (xml, png, jpg, or svg).

Applications for Education
Diagram.ly could be a good tool for students to use to create flowcharts of a process or concept. Students could also use Diagram.ly to create mindmaps that use images instead of just words and lines. As registration is not required in order to use the service you can have students using it quickly without losing instructional time to walking students through a registration process.

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Social Compare: Visually Compare the Size of Objects and Concepts

Social Compare [socialcompare.com] sees a conceptual gap between social networking and visual size comparison. The online tool enables everyone to easily compare the size of all sorts of artefacts, like objects (e.g. iPad vs. iPad 2), persons (e.g. Obama vs. Sarkozy), countries (e.g. USA vs. France) and the like. All visual comparisons can be saved to be shared on social networks or be embedded directly on blog post or website. In addition, size "tables" allow comparison of things that have no visual counterpart, such as Internet browsers, car performance statistics or sports and activities.

Ultimately, Social Compare believes it can become an new social community to create and share easily interactive and collaborative comparison tables. More information also watchable in a short introduction movie below.

See also Sizeasy - Visual Size Comparison

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