Social Networking Now Trumps Email: Nielsen

Social networking explosion attracting users but not advertisers
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 10, 2009 5:47 AM CDT
Social Networking Now Trumps Email: Nielsen
Social networking now accounts for almost a tenth of all time spent online, the Nielsen study found, with Facebook the most popular site.   (AP Photo/Facebook)

Social networking has become more popular than email—but that popularity hasn't translated into profitability, a new Nielsen study finds. Social networking "member communities" such as Facebook are now the most popular Internet activity, according to Nielsen's figures, attracting 67% of global Internet users and still growing fast. Email trails at 65%, Adweek reports.

The social-networking juggernaut is sucking users away from Internet portals, the Nielsen study finds, but ad revenue is lagging far behind the boom. "It will take time to work out the magic formula for successfully advertising in social networks," the study notes, concluding that an ad model "built on the principle of two-way conversation" would likely only be arrived at through trial and error.
(More Internet portal stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X