Facebook is the undisputed social media boss in New Zealand

Even though Pokemon Go is the current buzz, that is raging hot across the world (through official or illegal version); the augmented reality game is still not strong enough to beat the decade-year-old Facebook reign, especially in New Zealand, a nation of Facebook fanatics.

A recent research from Colmar Brunton has revealed that 80 percent of Kiwis are always on Facebook, out of which 86 percent are women and 73 percent men.

Colmar Brunton, that examined the country’s social media habits to reveal the latest trends and what drives Kiwis in their social media engagement says, "Despite the fact that Facebook is no longer the latest thing and may be considered less cool than the likes of Snapchat and Instagram by the nation’s youth, it remains by far our most popular social media platform and the most likely to be addictive for Kiwis".

The company's Media and Digital Account Manager Kerri Tait says, "Facebook was found to be by far the most addictive social media platform with 65 percent of those among a representative sample of 1000 people with a margin of error of + or – 3.1 percent. The next most addictive platforms are – YouTube (30 percent), Snapchat (18 percent) and Instagram (17 percent)."

She further adds, "Interestingly, while Facebook is increasingly seen as a platform for older age groups, 18-29-year-olds (91 percent) and 30-39-year-olds (89 percent) are the most attached. Females (75 percent) are much more likely to rely on their regular Facebook fix than males (54 percent), the opposite of YouTube, which 32 percent of males and 27 percent of females find addictive.

“It follows that females (33 percent) are much more likely than males (22 percent) to be on Facebook five or more times a day but 18-29-year-olds (48 percent) are the most likely to be on Facebook that often.”

The survey also revealed that Kiwis are rather clear about who they want to and don’t want to have as Facebook friends. The vast majority, with 76 percent of users will friend immediate family and even their in-laws as well as colleagues and childhood friends. And most steer well clear of their boss, their teacher and particularly their ex on Facebook.

Would you friend someone you have only met online? Well, 80 percent of Kiwis are not that open to this idea. Primarily, the 18-29-year-old group (29 percent) showed maximum keenness for this, with men (27 percent) almost twice as likely as women (14 percent) to go down this track.

Most Kiwis are likely to be following friends (89 percent), family (84 percent) or co-workers (40 percent), instead of businesses and brands (26 percent), music brands or artists (20 percent), TV shows and movies at (19 percent), celebrities or news organizations (18 percent), political figures (13 percent).

The survey has also revealed tips to keep people from unfollowing you. Tait says "posting unwelcome content, the breakup of offline friendships and constant requests to play Facebook games are the quickest routes to losing a Facebook following. Posting too often or getting into arguments is also cited as leading reasons to unfollow someone".

Now you know how to increase your "following" numbers on Facebook!!