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Twitter goes mainstream in Brazil – 2

Alberto Lung — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:43:47 +0000

Depois do artigo da Época falando sobre do Twitter, parece que algumas partes do governo brasileiro passaram a prestar mais atenção para esta nova – não tão nova – forma de comunicação. O governo de São Paulo esta à algumas semanas postando sobre seus projetos e novidades na sua nova conta no Twitter: @governosp

Contudo… o que achamos mais interessante de ser notado, foram as reações de alguns dos twitter e twitteretes:

pablosnr: RT @baunilha: @governosp no twitter!- interessante.. vejamos oq eles estão aprontando. acho que deveria ter twits especiais sobre corrupção

Pangos: @governosp Sejam bem vindos representantes.

about 1 hour ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

gustavoramos: @governosp Vocês deveriam promover mais a interação com o cidadão aqui e deixar de lado as propagandas. Isso eu vejo no site.

edumg: José Serra andou lendo a Época @governosp

Nos contem nos comentários um pouco das suas experiências com o Twitter Going Mainstream

Twitter goes mainstream in Brazil

Tim Lucas — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:26:37 +0000

As Twitter goes increasingly mainstream in the UK, as witnessed in its increasing use in radio phone-ins on the BBC it looks like its about to do the same here in Brazil. Or is it? This weeks Epoca magazine devoted it’s cover to the rise of the phenomenon here in Brazil. However, we’re asking a few of Brazil’s most prolific Twitter addicts what this means for the application here…. more to come shortly

…oh and as if you don’t yet know what Twitter is…

Social Networking – Brazil in Global Context

Tim Lucas — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:56:00 +0000

A new study released by Nielsen reports the shift in the online social behavior. Nielsen’s study results presented here followed the online activity in the USA, Brazil, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Australia. Note that the ‘Member Community’ category includes both social networking and blogging websites.

1. Social network and blogging sites are now the 4th most popular activity on the Internet

Social network and blogging sites are now the 4th most popular
activity on the Internet (overcoming personal email) with 67% global reach as to December 2008. That is 5% more of what they attracted a year ago.

The strongest growth comes from Germany (much due to Facebook launching a German language interface in March 2008) now reaching 51% of Germans online compared to 39% a year ago (12% increase). Large growth has also occurred in the UK, Spain, Italy and Switzerland (about 10% growth in each country).
The US growth at this time was minor (2.6% growth) suggesting a saturation of the online social activity of the US population.

2. Due to Facebook’s success – time spent on ‘member community’ sites grow three times the rate of overall Internet growth

The overall time spent online globally increased by 18% between December 2007 and December 2008. In the same period, however, the amount of time spent on ‘Member Community’ sites rose by 63% to 45 billion minutes; and on Facebook by a massive 566% – from 3.1 billion minutes to 20.5 billion. Facebook’s time is so high due to having the highest average time per person (three hours 10 minutes).

In most of the countries monitored the share of time accounted for by ‘Member Communities’ has more than doubled. In Switzerland, share of time has tripled from 3% to 9.3%.
A year ago ‘Member Communities’ accounted for one in every 15 online minutes globally – now it accounts for one in every 11. In Brazil alone, ‘Member Communities’ accounts for almost one in every 4 minutes. In the UK they now account for one in every 6 minutes (up from every 13 minutes a year ago) and in Italy one in every 7 (up from one in 14 a year ago).

3. Facebook has driven older people to be socially involved online:

While social networks started amongst the younger audience, today’s audiences are becoming broader and older. This shift has primarily been driven by Facebook, successfully opened opportunities of social networking to a much wider audience.

Class C and the Credit Crunch Crisis in Brazil

Tim Lucas — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:21:42 +0000

As noted frequently on this blog, recent years have seen the expansion of the middle class (Classe C) in Brazil. At the end of 2008, this “slice” has already totaled 53.8% of the population, according to research from the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), which, with a greater purchasing power, began to consume more and helped the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Brazil to record a 3% growth over the past four years. But this Sunday (15), which saw the celebration of World Consumer Day, with credit tighter and unemployment on the rise, evidence seems to point to the fact the Brazilian is “tightening their belt.” And it is exactly this new C class being forced to make more adjustments in their spending. The consumption of durable goods within this class are seemingly increasingly competing with the basic household budget. In February, according to the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), the consumer confidence reached its lowest level since the survey began in 2005. “Lack of trust has influenced the pattern of consumption or habit that is Brazilian,” says Professor Mark Luppi, Retail Management Program (Sample), the Fundação Instituto de Administração (FIA). According to experts, the time to put the foot on the brake “on spending, the first things to cut within the budget are of greater value, where the purchase is greater dependence on financing”, especially where payment is in installments. Changes are likely to be reflected not only in the quantity but also relations to specific brands purchased – especially in non-durable goods. Some have argued that for the new class C that change does not come easily, arguing that as they created new habits, incorporating consumption, it is more difficult to abandon. If before they consume a premium brand, will look similar brands at cheaper prices. Other product areas likely to be hit may be where products are considered unnecessary: such as meals outside the home and leisure but also in areas such as telephony.

The inactive and the hyperactive in Brazil

Tim Lucas — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:19:46 +0000

The headlines that we read in the Brazilian press stated that one in five Paulistas (residents of the State of Sao Paulo) are sedentary although the findings seem to throw up some other interesting trends in terms of excercise and phsysical activities in Brazil.
According to a recent study on behalf of the State government and The Brazilian Health Ministry, 19.4% of respondents did not meet the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the accumulation of 30 minutes of physical activities, at least five days a week. However there appears to simultaneously be a divide between those who do little or no excercise and those who are extremely active – where nubers have grown since 2006. Result from Sao Paulo were replicated in the control sample of Curitiba where those doing minimal excercise grew from 3.9% to 9.8% and the very active rose from 11.8% to 16.8%. The research showed also that women remain more physically active than men.

The results come from research conducted in 2008 with 2,600 people of both sexes, over 14 years, of different ages, education, social classes and occupations in the city of São Paulo and 13 other regions of the state.

Women are the highest earners in 30% of Brazilian homes

Tim Lucas — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:25:26 +0000

International Women’s Day yesterday saw the annual collection of articles across the Americas about the role of women in society. In Brazil, Folha de Sao Paulo reported the findings of a number of different studies which emphasise the implications the changing position of women in society, the workplace and within families and the household. Increasingly women are becoming the dominant breadwinner within homes. Cases where the income of women exceeds that of men in the home are still in the minority, but in the last 25 years, they more than doubled, as shown by figures released by IPEA (Institute of Applied Economic Research)

From 1982 to 2007, the proportion of households where the income of women exceeded that of their partner grew from 3% to 11%. When one adds to this homes where the woman lives without a spouse, the percentage of houses where they were the main or only providers more than doubled, going from 13% to 30% in the last 25 years.

Another fact that demonstrates the advances made by women is the finding that women’s contribution to the total income of households in Brazil has already reached 40%. In 1982, this proportion was 23%. The changes have been explained mainly because of improved female education and the reduction in fertility rates. Today, the IBGE has shown that education of women between 20 and 59 years exceeds that of
men. In 1982, the situation was the reverse.

If women’s participation in the labor market has changed considerably in recent years, the same can not be said of the division of household chores. Even in households where both work, most of the responsibilities in the home are still left to women. In 2007, 90% of women were busy taking care of household chores. Among men, the percentage was only 50%. They also spent on average more than twice the number of
weekly hours to these activities than their partners: 22.2 hours, compared with 9.6 for men. The unequal division of domestic tasks is really common even in cases where women have higher income than the man.

Meanwhile in Lima, the headlines in El Comercio related to a survey conducted in Peru found that 78% of women believe that they have the same opportunities as men. The report from the International Labor Organization (ILO), states that women show almost the same level of labor force participation as men (except in construction, transportation, manufacturing and domestic service) and almost the same unemployment rates.
In terms of payment, 53% of women answered that there is no wage gap between women and men. However, this is more a wish than a reality, as according to surveys, the gap between the incomes of men and women for the execution of the same work stands at 30 %.
At another level, an overwhelming 97% of Peruvian women stated a desire to work. Of this, half prefer to work part time (predominant sector being married women in social class E), while 49% want to work like men (single women predominantly in the classes A and B). Furthermore, 91% believed that women should be independent entrepreneurs.

Beware the Brazilian Teenager!

Tim Lucas — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:31:47 +0000

This weeks Veja magazine has devoted a large segment to a report on today’s Brazilian youth. Whilst the report contains some interesting background and insight on young people – much of which relates to trends observable in young middle class people (not just limited to teenagers) across the globe the general tone of the piece is in some ways as confusing as the young people it identifies. Confusing in that whilst the net is seen as creating a generation more informed than their parents, less tribal and less prejudiced, it is simultaneously seen as central to a number of ‘problems’ affecting young Brazilians.

The report is somewhat akin to a soft ‘moral panic’ stating that young people who are kings of the digital age are costly to keep, pragmatic, lacking idealism and generally lost or confused in a world of endless choice, much of which is bought on by their being endlessly online. The internet and social media is in part blamed for young people’s lack of reflexivity and a ‘look at me’ culture, meanwhile the growth of social contacts via Orkut has fuelled increased party attendance and this is blmed for increased drinking and drug taking amongst Brazilians.The article however also seeks to criticise teens for having lost the sense of revolution that their parents exhibited, worrying only about getting into stable employment and receiving a good salary.
The shift in power relations due to adoption of technologies is also seen as a factor behind how young people now increasingly control household spending behaviour and the fact that young people are now 5 times more expensive than 30 years ago.
The article which starts by drawing comparison to Holden Caulfield’s crisis of 2 generations ago ends with a list of recommendations to parents on how to raise their children with reference to such issues as – how to get them to answer the phone, or stop exposing too much of their lives online!

If you would like to know more about our own extensive and less sensationalist research report into Young Lives across South America – please click here

Influencer Culture – wikipedia and literature

Tim Lucas — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:55:51 +0000

as promised…some thoughts and clips from Lima to come over the next few days. Here is a starter from the interviews with teenagers in Lima. We asked if the internet influenced their consumer behaviour and they discussed how their online and offline purchasing of books (offline) was particularly influenced by their online behaviour – in particular Wikipedia as a source of ideas for books to purchase…never done it myself but will give it a go…

Nova Lima

Tim Lucas — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:47:47 +0000

We’ve been busy in Peru for the past few weeks looking at some of the social and cultural trends in Lima and beyond. We are in the process of creating a micro-site with more detail on the New Peruvian Consumer, interviews with young Limeñas and a host of visual images from around the city. The site will be up and running soon but in the meantime…

Young Lives : Vidas Jovens

Tim Lucas — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:22:38 +0000

TWRAmericas have recently completed a major study of Trends among young consumers (ages 15-19) in Brasil across various cities and with youth of a variety of ages.

The study looked at a range of issues inclusing young peoples values and influences, the role that media and new technologies play in their lives, as well as the role of brands and advertising within their own youth cultures.

The research involved a wide range of qualitative methodologies – from focus groups to online interviews and digital ethnography

If you would like to know more about the project or to see some of the findings please get in touch and we’ll send a copy of the Vidas Jovens DVD Report to you.