Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook, recently announced that Facebook hit one billion monthly active users worldwide on 14 September 2012 at 12:45pm Pacific Time.  

That is truly an astonishing number of people using a single service to connect and communicate with each other.

So, how strong is Facebook’s presence in Malaysia?  

Facebook in Malaysia – More than 13 Million Members

As of today, Facebook has approximately 13,063,600 members who live in Malaysia.  According to the World Bank in 2011, Malaysia has a population of 28,859,154 people.  This suggests that about 45% of the population in Malaysia have Facebook accounts.

For context, the United States, where Facebook is headquartered and was founded, has about 166,022,260 Facebook members.  According to the World Bank in 2011, the United States has a population of 311,591,917.  This suggests that about 53% of the population in the United States have Facebook accounts.

Thus, Facebook appears to be widely used in Malaysia with a growing membership base.  It’s difficult to determine how many expats in Malaysia have Facebook accounts, since nationalities aren’t requested fields by Facebook.  

Popular Facebook Pages in Malaysia

Here is a mix of 15 highly-liked, Malaysian-based Facebook pages, shedding social media insight into the popular local products and brands in Malaysia:

• Upin & Ipin
  • Official page for the hit children animation series in Malaysia
  • 5,951,000+ Facebook Likes

• Air Asia
  • Southeast Asia’s largest no-frills carrier founded by Malaysian, Tan Sri Tony Fernandez
  • 1,607,000+ Facebook Likes

• McDonald’s Malaysia
  • Official McDonald’s Malaysian Fan Page since May 2009
  • 1,303,000+ Facebook Likes

• Hot FM
  • Popular Malay radio station based in Kuala Lumpur.
  • 1,106,000+ Facebook Likes

• Golden Screen Cinemas
  • Malaysia’s largest Cinemas Chain (An alternative, high quality Cinema is Cathay Cineplexes)
  • 679,000+ Facebook Likes

• TV3 
  • Leading free-to-air TV station in Malaysia
  • 884,000+ Facebook Likes

• Berita Harian Online
  • Bahasa Malaysia daily newspaper
  • 625,000+ Facebook Likes

• CIMB Malaysia
  • Second largest commercial bank in Malaysia
  • 645,238+ Facebook Likes

• Mudah.my
  • Malaysian online marketplace
  • 608,000+ Facebook Likes

• Malaysia Airlines
  • Malaysia’s national airline
  • 546,000+ Facebook Likes

• Maxis
  • One of Malaysia’s leading telecom companies
  • 525,000+ Facebook Likes

• Nike Football Malaysia
  • Leading sportswear in Malaysia
  • 479,000+ Facebook Likes

• Blackberry Malaysia
  • Popular smartphone in Malaysia
  • 438,000+ Facebook Likes

• DiGi
  • Malaysia’s 3rd largest cellular network provider
  • 437,000+ Facebook Likes

• Astro
  • Leading satellite TV provider in Malaysia
  • 414,000+ Facebook Likes
     

Recommended Facebook Pages for Expats and Foreigners in Malaysia

Be sure to follow our company’s, The Expat Group, Facebook pages.  We certainly don’t have as many likes as those listed above (we cater to a niche group), but we provide quality updates and insights about life in Malaysia for expats, tourists, and others interested foreigners.

• The Expat Group Facebook Page
  • A multi-channel media-communications company focused providing information and support to foreigners interested in Malaysia

• The Expat Magazine Facebook Page
  • The leading expat magazine in Malaysia, which has been running for 17 years now

• ExpatGoMalaysia.com Facebook Page
  • A media website focused on providing information about Malaysia to people from around the world

• MM2H.com Facebook Page
  • A resource focused on providing information to foreigners interested in the Malaysia My Second Home programme and Malaysia

Facebook clearly has a strong presence in Malaysia and it is continuing to expand and develop rapidly, along with numerous other social media platforms.

If you’d like a small, online social platform focused on discussing aspects of Malaysia, you might want to check out our Expat Go Malaysia Forum.

Here is a recent video snippet of the first interview with Mark Zuckerberg since the Facebook initial public offering.

Register for Free on ExpatGoMalaysia.com