Nearly half of Brunei population connected through Facebook

Most Facebook users in Brunei are between the ages of 18 and 24

Pie chart of age groups of Facebook users in Brunei. Illustration: socialbakers.com

Nearly half of Brunei's population are connected through Facebook.
According to Socialbakers (www.socialbakers.com), as of December 9, 2010, there are a staggering 196,260 people (49.68% of Brunei's population) who are currently connected to the world's Number One social networking site.
Most Brunei "Facebookers" are between the ages of 18 and 24. They make up 33% of the total number of people who use Facebook in the Sultanate.
Meanwhile, 29% of local Facebook users are between the ages of 25 and 34, 13% are in the 35-44 age group, 4% are in the 45-54 age group, 1% are between the ages of 55 and 64, and 1% are above 65 years old.
Out of the total number of Facebook users in the Sultanate, the percentage of Brunei youths under the age 17 who have access to Facebook is 10% (for those in the 13-15 age group) and 7% (for those between the ages of 16 and 17).
A concerned parent, Mrs Lee Siew Ping, told the Bulletin that she often sees her 15-year-old daughter glued in front of the computer for long hours, mainly because of Facebook, which she uses for chatting and posting stuff online.
"As she is still young, I sometimes worry that people may try to trick her or that she may be influenced by negative elements," Mrs Lee said.
Commenting on the recent reports in Malaysia about a 22-year-old youth who jumped from the 14th floor of an apartment block at 3am after leaving a "45-minute countdown message" on his Facebook page, Mrs Lee said: "This is indeed worrying … It may influence others (to do the same thing)."
According to Socialbakers, Brunei is ranked 107th based on the number of people who are members of Facebook.
The US topped the list with 1,468,005,000 users followed by Indonesia (32,126,660 users), UK (28, 665, 360 users), Turkey (24,143,980 users) and France (20,469,420 users).
Meanwhile, the Authority for Info-communications Technology (AiTi) declined to comment on rumours that Facebook would be banned in Brunei at the end of the month.