Nielsen: What Americans Do Online

Social Networking Tops Net Usage

Americans spend nearly a quarter of their time online on social networking sites and blogs, up from 15.8% just a year ago (43% increase) according to new research released from THE NIELSEN COMPANY. Having a large online and social network presence is smart for radio, as the research revealed that Americans spend a third their online time (36%) communicating and networking across social networks, blogs, personal e-mail and instant messaging.

Mobile Internet activities seeing significant growth include music, which enjoyed a 20%-plus increase in share of activity year over year.

Despite the almost unlimited nature of what you can do on the web, 40% of U.S. online time is spent on just three activities -- social networking, playing games and emailing.

Top 10 Sectors By Share Of U.S. Internet Time

1. Social Networks
2. Online Games
3. E-mail
4. Portals
5. Instant Messaging
6. Videos/Movies
7. Search
8. Software Manufacturers
9. Multi-category Entertainment
10. Classifieds/Auctions

"Despite the almost unlimited nature of what you can do on the web, 40% of U.S. online time is spent on just three activities -- social networking, playing games and e-mailing, leaving a whole lot of other sectors fighting for a declining share of the online pie," said NIELSEN analyst DAVE MARTIN.

Additional Findings

Online games overtook personal e-mail to become the second most-heavily-used activity behind social networks -- accounting for 10% of all U.S. Internet time. E-mail dropped from 11.5% of time to 8.3%. (Source: Nielsen NetView). Of the most heavily-used sectors, Videos/Movies (which includes video-specific and movie-related websites only -- and is not inclusive of video streaming behavior elsewhere) was the only other to experience a significant growth in share of U.S. activity online. Its share of activity grew relatively by 12% from 3.5 to 3.9%. (Source: Nielsen NetView).

[How important do you feel social networking is to your station -- to your show? Share your thoughts below.]

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