Between December 2008 and 2009, the total time spent on social networks rose by a massive 82% — from an average of three hours a month, to almost six! To nerds like you and I, six hours doesn’t sound like a huge amount, but when you figure in the ‘casuals’ that bring the average down — like your grandmother — it’s a little scary.
And it’s all because of darned Twitter and Facebook! Yes, they’re to blame: other major social networks (MySpace, LinkedIn, Classmates) saw a decline in unique users throughout 2009. Twitter, bolstered by a humongous 579% gain from 2.7 million to 18.1 million unique users per month, saw the greatest percentile growth in the social networking sector. Facebook, with a minuscule 200% expansion in 2009, is still by far the largest network with 207 million unique visitors in December 2009.
While worldwide average growth for social networks came in at 82%, the U.S. in particular saw a 143% increase. Believe it or not though, Australia actually clocks up the highest average use of social networks: they spend almost 7 hours a month, while the US and UK spend a paltry 6 hours each!
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