Social networking accounts for 1 in every 5 minutes spent online

Moneylife Digital team 22 December 2011

Use of social networks is not limited to just young people. People aged 55 or more have emerged as the fastest growing age segment in social networking says comScore

Social networking is the most popular online activity worldwide accounting for nearly 1 in every 5 minutes spent online in October 2011, and reaches 82% percent of the world’s Internet population, representing 1.2 billion users across the globe, says comScore.

“Regardless of the geography, social networks are weaving themselves ever more intricately into the fabric of the digital experience, opening a world of new opportunity for business and technology,” said Linda Boland Abraham, comScore CMO and EVP of global development.

Time spent on social networking sites gained ground during this time by taking share predominantly from web-based email and instant messengers, reflecting its emergence as another primary communication channel for users. Unmistakably, it has evolved over the years to become an integral part of the global online experience, in many ways both mirroring and augmenting the offline social experience, comScore said.

According to a report ‘It’s a Social World: Top 10 Need-to-Knows About Social Networking and Where It’s Headed’, the widespread adoption of social networking highlights the global appeal of this online activity. Of the 43 markets individually reported by comScore, 41 markets saw at least 85% of their respective online populations visit social networking sites in October 2011, it said.

Facebook has also become an important part of the online community. According to the report, during October, Facebook reached more than half (55%) of the world’s global audience and accounted for one in every seven minutes spent online and three in every four social networking minutes.

Even microblogging sites, like Twitter are not far behind. In recent years, microblogging has emerged as a disruptive new force in social networking on a global scale. In October, Twitter reached one in 10 Internet users worldwide, growing 59% in the past year. Other popular microblogging destinations seeing rapid adoption include Chinese site Sina Weibo, with its audience growing 181% in the past year to rank as the tenth largest social network in October. Tumblr, which ranked twelfth worldwide in audience size, grew 172% in the past year, the comScore report said.

Use of social networks is not limited to just young people, people aged 55 and more have become the fastest growing age segment in social networking. During October, young users aged between 15 and 24 remained the highly engaged segment spending eight hours per visitor. On the other hand, the penetration of social networks among people aged 55 and more increased nearly 10 percentage points since July 2010 to 80% in October 2011.

Analysis of the most highly engaged global social networking markets revealed that Israel led all countries with visitors spending an average of more than 11 hours on social networking sites during the month. Argentina ranked second at 10.7 hours, followed by Russia (10.4 hours) and Turkey (10.2 hours). The US, at 6.9 hours per person, did not even rank within the top ten countries for social networking engagement.

From July 2010 to October 2011, 15-24 year olds saw the largest decline in their use of instant messengers and email, outpacing overall declines in average time spent on these categories across other age groups. Simultaneously, 15-24 year olds also saw the biggest increase in average time spent on social networking. To date, this demographic shows the highest average engagement with social networking worldwide. The data collectively suggests that much of the communication going on between 15-24 year olds happens via social networks. As this generation matures, carrying these highly social behaviours into the future, it is possible that social networking, or its natural successor, could become the most important communication channel across all age groups, the comScore report concluded.

Comments