Facebook has been getting a ton of attention because of how rapidly it has integrated itself into the daily lives of so many people.
South Africans have embraced the social network in force. Official figures (as of May 2012) put the number of South Africans accessing 
Facebook via their desktop computers at 5 million with 7 million accessing the social network via mobile devices.
Every month (data as of October 2011) South Africans post 39 000 video clips, 499 000 ‘check-ins’ (showing people their location), 22 million wall posts, 32 million photo uploads, 35 million status updates, sends 102 million messages, posts 106 million ‘likes’ and posts 176 million comments.
South African brands have already achieved success using Facebook as an ad platform including Big Concerts. When it promoted the U2 360° tour in Johannesburg and Cape Town, Big Concerts used Facebook for a teaser and sales campaign over a 15 day period. As a result they added 5 644 fans via the ads to their Facebook page and another 10 000 through the organic spread.
Source: Habari Media
Reprinted from the March 2012 edition of AdVantage magazine. Facebook user stats updated.
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We are currently taking a poll to see how many SA businesses have had success with their FB ads after seeing that GM have pulled out.
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/South-African-Facebook-Advertising-Have-3735201.S.116186804?qid=b2f3db78-4294-414e-8075-e15ce753e217&trk=group_most_recent_rich-0-b-ttl&goback=%2Egmr_3735201
Why would the Facebook Ad platform say that you can only reach 4,583,480 people who live in South Africa?