According to a new study, South African teens use mobile instant messaging application MXit for social networking more than any other application, including Google and Facebook.
These findings were made public in the Sunday Times Generation Next Survey research, conducted by HDI Youth Marketeers, polling 5,300 young urban South Africans between the ages of 8 and 22. For the third year in the history of the awards, global mobile social network and instant messaging provider MXit has topped the poll in the Coolest Website and Social Network category.
MXit’s edgy slogan “Join the evolution” came second in the Coolest Brand Slogan category, right after Nike’s “Just do it”.
Says Herman Heunis, CEO and founder of MXit: “We are so pleased with these accolades and would really like to thank our users. Our philosophy has always been squarely centred on making the mobile social networking experience a really valuable and fun one for our users, and these awards show us that this is working,”
“We have also just been shortlisted for the 2009 Meffy Awards (Mobile Entertainment Forum awards) in the Mobile First Innovation category for launching our first IM Book. ‘Emily and the battle of the veil’ was recently added to our already vast entertainment portfolio.”
“MXit users can read the full book while on the go for a mere R13.50, which is a fraction of the cost of a title purchased in a traditional book store. We are hoping that this will make reading a lot more accessible to people from all backgrounds and cultures,” continues Heunis.
MXit is a true African success story, as it was designed and developed in South Africa, and is still headquartered in South Africa. The company boasts 13 million users, with massive growth rates of up to 18,000 extra users per day.
— Charl Lombard
