It might not come as much of a surprise to most people, but it has not been confirmed that the most popular online activity of 2011 was social networking. The organisation comScore carried out a study to see how people spend their time online and the results are interesting to look at.
For example, for the month of October 2011, the study found that around 20% of time (that’s 1 out of every five minutes) online was spent on social networking sites and activities. This suggests it was the most popular activity worldwide, suggesting that even though some are worried about the isolating effects of the web, people still seek out methods of communication and socialisation while they are online.
Also, the study discovered that more than 1.2 billion people around the world have now got access to social networking sites. That works out as more than 80% of the internet population (82% to be precise) who are able to access the World Wide Web from home or work and are aged at least fifteen.
As you might expect, Facebook was a major beneficiary of this online networking trend, receiving three quarters of the total networking time spent online in October 2011. Twitter has also grown massively in terms of reach – it’s up 59% over the course of the year. Other microblogging websites such as Tumblr are also gaining in popularity, suggesting that this is a trend to watch over the course of 2012.
Also interesting is the fact that social networking is not just the preserve of the young. While the younger age groups still dominate online networking, the over 55s are the fastest growing group – and there are signs to suggest that the growth in the popularity of smartphones is also helping to fuel the global trend for making use of social networking websites. Find out more by searching for SEO Manchester
No comments yet.