New | Hong Kong’s snap happy users make city Snapchat’s No. 1 market in Asia

Snapchat is gaining popularity in Hong Kong as an older audience join the traditional teenage user base for the social media app, allowing them to send photogaphs that disappear after viewing, a survey has found.

As many as 46 per cent of Hong Kong’s Internet users report using the app, making the city the number one market in the Asia-Pacific for Snapchat, according to a survey. Last year, 19 per cent of Internet users reported using the app.

Instagram has the largest penetration of Internet users, with 70 per cent of consumers reporting usage, according to Kantar TNS’ The Connected Life study of 70,000 internet users across 57 countries. That makes Hong Kong the second biggest Asian market for Instagram, behind Malaysia. Snapchat is catching up in terms of user numbers, according to the survey.

“Hong Kong people are very open and quick to adopt new trends, regardless of their age, and the study confirms that this is also true of new social media platforms,” William Choi, associate director, Hong Kong for Kantar TNS, said.

The survey found internet users are expanding their use of social media beyond Facebook to try out apps focusing on visual elements.

Founded in 2011 and popular among teenagers and young people, Snapchat has 150 million daily active users drawn in by filters that super impose dog ears or a flower crown on self portraits.