Instagram thrives in sluggish S. Korean social media market

By Park Sae-jin Posted : August 10, 2017, 14:07 Updated : August 10, 2017, 14:09

[Former girl group KARA member Koo Hara's Instagram]


Instagram, a social media network specialized in sharing photos and videos, is thriving in South Korea's social media market thanks to its characteristics which provide easy access to glimpses of other people's lives and interests.

"Instagram is ideal for sharing instant moments via pictures and videos. It is especially good when one wishes to check up on the daily lives of celebrities," Kim Kyo-seok, a pop culture critic, told Aju News Thursday. "These days, the core users tend to focus on sharing their matters of interest rather than keeping in touch with people they know through social media."

The popular service, which started its Korean language support in December 2012, has over 10 million monthly active users (MAUs), according to Instagram data. The number of MAUs has increased by about four million in the last 17 months. While Instagram is thriving, a poll found that the number of other social media services such as Facebook has decreased.

In a June survey of 1,000 people, conducted by DMCMedia, a Seoul-based analyst company, 88.8 percent said they use Facebook at least once a month, compared to 91.5 percent in June last year. Domestic networks Kakao Story and Band also saw their MAU falling to 70.1 percent and 56.1 percent. 

 
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