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RT @Twitter to open office in @Brazil
January 17, 2013, 10:22 am

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Twitter already has 40 million users in Brazil. [Getty Images]

Quick on the heels of its biggest rival, Twitter is set to open offices in Sao Paulo, Brazil in a bid to consolidate its presence ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

With 40 million of its netizens already using Twitter, Brazil is considered the second largest social media market after the United States.

In May 2012, Brazil became the second highest country on Facebook, with over 46 million users on the social network.

India is a close third. In September, that figure jumped to 58 million users – a 26 per cent increase in just four months.

According to Socialbakers, a company that monitors social media statistics, Facebook’s rapid growth since it entered the Brazilian market in earnest in January 2012 is due to commercial enterprise – specifically the fashion, beauty and alcohol sectors – proactively using the medium.

Trident Brasil, the bubblegum subsidiary of Kraft Brasil, for example, has about 4 million Facebook followers – all in Brazil.

It is this social media dream market that Twitter is hoping to tap into.

“We believe our new office in Brazil will allow us to get closer to the users and show the value of our platform,” Twitter’s new Brazil manager Guilherme Ribenboim told Reuters.

“Brazil has rather mature Internet and advertisement markets. Our audience is very big and active.”

As the world’s sixth largest economy, Brazil has seen Internet use skyrocket in recent years.

According to Internet World Stats, there are nearly 90 million Internet users in Brazil, of a population of 196 million, making it the seventh highest country in the world in terms of usage.

However, only about 50 million are considered active users.

The number of Internet users is expected to increase to 135 million by 2016.

Source: Agencies