Mar 10, 2009

Social Networks, Blogs Pass Email In UsageBy Gavin O'MalleyMediaPost.com

The rapidly evolving world of social networks and blogs has officially grown up.

Last year, the largest increase in visitors to such “member community” Web sites came from those ages 35-49, according to a new report from The Nielsen Co.

“Social networking isn’t just growing rapidly, it’s evolving–both in terms of a broader audience and compelling new functionality,” said Alex Burmaster, author of the study and communications director across EMEA for Nielsen Online.

But grow rapidly it did. In 2008, over two-thirds (67%) of the global online population visited what Nielsen dubs “member communities,” which include both social networks and blogs.

That placed “member communities” as the fourth-largest online category, ahead of “personal email.”

What’s more, the category grew twice as fast as any of the other four largest sectors, including search, portals, PC software and email.

According to the Nielsen report, Facebook–which has now surpassed MySpace as the world’s most popular social network–was visited monthly by three in every 10 people online across the nine markets in which Nielsen tracks social networking.

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