Online networking continues to surge

Posted by: Krishna De | Posted on: June 12th, 2006 | 0 Comments | Posted in: Uncategorized

The latest figures released by Nielsen//NetRatings show the top ten social networking sites in the US have increased from a unique audience of 46.8 million last year to 68.8 million in April 2006.

MySpace, which has attracted significant media attention of late, topped the list with 38.4 million unique visitors and a remarkable year-over-year growth rate of 367 percent.

Blogger took the No. 2 spot, garnering 18.5 million unique visitors and growing 80 percent year over year, followed by Classmates Online with 12.9 million unique visitors and a 10 percent year-over-year increase.

Newcomer YouTube and the more established MSN Groups rounded out the top five, with 12.5 million and 10.6 million unique visitors, respectively.

’Social networking sites are the reality television of the Internet,’ said Jon Gibs, senior director of media, Nielsen//NetRatings. His view is that the content is relatively inexpensive for publishers to produce, and social networking is not a fad that will disappear.

The interactive nature of social networking sites keeps visitors coming back.
MySpace enjoyed the highest retention rate among the group, with 67 percent of all March at-home visitors returning in April.

MSN Groups and Facebook also benefited from a loyal following, with 58 and 52 percent of visitors returning month over month, respectively.

It is definately a space to watch – particularly if you are a marketeer – you may just want to ‘hang out’ in these communities to see the shape of consumer dialogue from which you will be sure to access some interesting consumer insights.