Australians, like the rest of the world, are spending more and more
time on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter,
overtaking search as the number one online activity according to two new reports from Nielsen and Hitwise.
The latest global research from Nielsen reveals the average internet
user now spends over five and a half hours per month on social
networking sites, representing an increase of 82% since the same time
last year.
Australia led the study in time spent on social
networks with the average user spending nearly seven hours on social
networking sites, beating out other heavy social networkering locations Italy, UK and the US.
Meanwhile, Hitwise research director Alan Long has claimed that their figures show social networking is now
overtaking search in market share with a big jump over Christmas as people used social networks to contact friends and family.
Long
also noticed that "a daily pattern that has emerged over the past three
months" with social networks increasing their market share during
"weekends,
predominantly on Sunday."
With many workplaces restricting
access to Facebook and Twitter, its hardly surprising to see a jump on
weekends as people rely more and more on social networking sites.
However it must be noted that the Hitwise
data does not include users accessing social networking sites from
their mobile phones, which have become a favourite way to interact with
Facebook and other social networking destinations.
