67% of the world's online audience now use "Member communities" (including social networking sites and blogs) according to a new report from Nielsen Online, reports Brand Republic. The rise in use now puts the category in fourth place behind search, portals and PC software but ahead of email which has dropped to fifth. The study, titled "Global Faces and Networked Places", found that 69% of
UK internet users now use "Member communities". In addition, 47% of all UK internet users visit Facebook every month (against a 30% average in the nine markets tracked). Brits also spend more time visiting social networks and blogs, averaging 1 in every 6 minutes (compared to the global average of 1 in every 11 minutes). Traffic is increasingly being driven by older users: the highest growth in 2008 came from the 35-49 year-old demographic (up 11.3m).
Time spent visiting "member communities" accounted for nearly 10% of all time spent online in 2008.
From Brand Republic: http://www.brandrepublic.com, 09/03/2009
Nielsen Online: http://www.nielsen-online.com