Nine in 10 U.S. Internet users visit social networking sites every month, according to comScore. The average Internet user spent 4.5 hours on social networking sites each month in 2010. Social networking makes up 15.6% of total time spent online by global Internet users ages 15 and older and 14.4% of time spent by U.S. users.
Women are more active social networkers than men, spending 16.8% of their online time on social networking sites in December 2010 (up 4.5 percentage points from December 2009), compared with 12.0% spent by men (up 2.9 points).
Facebook is by far the most popular social networking site, accounting for 10% of page views (to any type of site) by U.S. Internet users in 2010. Three in 10 online sessions included a visit to Facebook, and the site’s unique visitors climbed to 153.9 million in the U.S. alone as of December 2010 (up 38% from 2009).
Facebook Vs. Twitter
Demographics of Facebook and Twitter users changed between 2009 and 2010. The proportion of Facebook users between the ages of 35 and 54 dropped from 39.0% to 35.4%, while the shares of users below age 18 and those age 55 and older grew.
Twitter’s user profile shifted to nearly half 18-34-year-olds (46.6%), up from 37.2% in 2009. Only 9.5% were under 18 in 2010, down from 17.5% — partly, the authors believe, due to increasing numbers of younger users accessing the site via mobile or third-party Twitter apps that are not included in the tracking.
Video Viewing
Online video viewing grew significantly during 2010; 179 million Americans watched each month, and 88.6 million watched on an average day in December 2010 (up 32% from 67.3 million in December 2009).
The average U.S. Internet user spent more than 14 hours watching online video in December 2010, up from 12.7 hours in December 2009.
Online viewing from laptop computers grew 45% between January 2010 and January 2011, according to Nielsen. Most of this growth was due to heavier viewing by existing users; the number of viewers grew only 3% during this time. Viewers streamed an average of 101 videos in January 2011, up 28% from 2010.
YouTube was the top video streaming destination in terms of numbers of total videos streamed — nearly 8.5 million in January 2011. Viewers spent the most time watching videos streamed from Netflix — an average of 11 hours, 8 minutes per person in January 2011 — not surprising, given that most videos on YouTube are short, while Netflix streams full-length movies. [Social Networking, Online]
Sources: “U.S. Digital Year in Review, 2010,” comScore, Sarah Radwanick, 316 Occidental Ave. S., #200, Seattle, WA 98104; 206-268-6310; press@comscore.com; www.comscore.com.
“January 2011: Online Video Usage Up 45%,” Nielsen, Matthew Hurst, Online Communications Analyst, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003; 646-654-5000; matthew.hurst@nielsen.com; www.nielsen.com
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