CZECH REPUBLIC INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EUROPE – Czech Republic: Christmas time in the Czech Republic is different. Czechs celebrate with a Christmas carp! Slovakia had been part of the Moravian Empire, and then the Kingdom of Hungary before the formation of Czechoslovakia in 1918. The peaceful separation of Czechoslovakia into Slovakia and the Czech Republic happened in 1993. Their cultural and linguistic heritage was different enough for both countries to establish themselves as separate nations with little difficulty.
Prague Castle
Prague Clock
Prague Bridge
Church of bones
CZECH REPUBLIC INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EUROPE
Emarketer predicts that the community of social network users in Central and Eastern Europe (including Russia) will reach more than 223 million by 2017. This equates to almost 52% of local internet users.
By the end of 2012, Russia had the fifth largest social media audience (approaching 52 million), and 45% of the Russian population is predicted to be active on social networks by 2014. While the big five social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn) are dominant players in the region, there are local social networks that are considered strong rivals for the local audience. The number of Facebook users in Central and Eastern Europe (including Russia) is predicted to top 122 million in 2014, and rise to 166.4 million by 2017 (with Russian users making up 49 million of that total). Only 1.7% of Facebook’s users log in from Russia, and according to ComScore, Russian visits to Facebook dropped 18% between June 2013-June 2013. Russia has a home-grown version of Facebook with 80 million users (50 million daily active users). V Kontakte (VK) originated as a student-based network and grew from there (much like Facebook). Almost 70% of its users are from Russia, with around 10% visiting from Ukraine and 3.5% from Belarus. ComScore recorded a 22% increase in Russian visitors to VK.ru in June 2013-June 2013. Russia’s second most popular network is Odnoklassniki (Russian for classmates), and is, as the name suggests, a site focused on renewing old friendships. It has more than 65 million users, more than 63% of who visit from Russia. Over 7% visit from Ukraine and almost 3% from Belarus.
Twitter use is growing in Russia. It increased by 33.41% between Q2 2012 and Q1 2013. At the end of 2012, 7% of Polish internet users also used Twitter (while 21% of Russian internet users were on Twitter).
Almost 4% of YouTube visits originate in Russia, 1.4% Poland and under one percent for other East European countries such as the Ukraine and Romania. There are more than 873,000 Google+ users in Eastern Europe. The largest percentage of users is from Russia (22%), with 12% from Hungary and 10% from Romania. Kosovo has the lowest numbers of users in Eastern Europe. LinkedIn is currently available in four East European languages: Czech, Polish, Romanian and Russian. It has around 1.5 million users in Russia.
In the majority of cases, the most popular pages and profiles focus on local issues, businesses or celebrities. There are, however, some exceptions. Take Facebook: the most ‘liked’ page in the Czech Republic is the global Simpsons page, which has more than 68 million fans. The Facebook page for Every Phone is the most ‘liked’ in Romania and Serbia (349 million fans). The Texas Holdem Poker Facebook page is the most ‘liked’ Facebook page in Croatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, Albania and Macedonia (69 million fans).
Most Eastern European nations prefer local pages on Facebook. The most ‘liked’ Facebook page in Ukraine is Ukrainian beer brand Чернігівське, which has more than 179,000 local fans. In Belarus, dating app Topface is the most ‘liked’ with more than 309,000 local fans.
Local music industry figures are the most followed on Twitter in Ukraine, Slovenia, Romania, Latvia, and Estonia. National footballers have the most followed accounts in Montenegro, Croatia, and the Czech Republic, while tennis pros have the most followed accounts in Serbia and Belarus. Politicians are the most followed in Russia and Albania, while models run the most popular Twitter accounts in Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland.
The most popular YouTube channels in The Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Croatia focus on the national musicians or the local music scene. News channels are the most popular in Latvia, Moldova, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
Google Plus has more than 972,000 users across Eastern Europe. The larger nations are the most represented Russia (19% of the total) and Poland (16%). Businesses and freelancers are the most followed pages in most of Eastern Europe (Russia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Estonia, and Serbia).