Facebook Grows 50%; MySpace Still #1; Social Networking Traffic Declines 17% Overall

Friday, September 26th, 2008 by Andy Beal

Facebook Grows 50%; MySpace Still #1; Social Networking Traffic Declines 17% Overall

OK, Facebook, what do you want first? The good news, or the bad news?

The good news? Well, the good news is that, according to Hitwise, you’ve grown your US share of social networking sites by a massive 50%, in the past year. w00t!

Now for the bad news. MySpace still has a 67.54% market share, compared to your relatively meager 20.56% slice.

Oh, and there’s some bad, bad news. Total traffic to social networking sites declined 17% year-over-year. I guess there’s just only so much sheep-throwing and whale-failing we can handle.

Hey, don’t shoot the messenger! And, even if you do want to shoot the messenger, it’s Hitwise–not this Pilgrim.

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13 comments on “Facebook Grows 50%; MySpace Still #1; Social Networking Traffic Declines 17% Overall”

Arthur Freydin Says:

September 26th, 2008 at 10:58 am

I think the most important thing to note in that graph up there is that MySpace lost 10% while Facebook gained 50%. Looks like Facebook is stealing users away from MySpace.

From what I hear, maybe it’s because Facebook is beginning to look more and more like MySpace .

Arthur Freydin’s last blog post..SanDisk’s slotMusic May Not Be So Bad – Hear Me Out Here
Danny Brown Says:

September 26th, 2008 at 11:03 am

Interesting to note that the US is following Canada’s lead for a change

Facebook has become almost like an obsession for many Canadians – Toronto in particular seems enthralled with FB. Go figure…

Personally I believe the next way forward will be with micro sites (actually wrote about it in my last blog). They’ll offer a far superior experience to the often faceless (no pun intended) Facebook and MySpace.

Danny Brown’s last blog post..Are Micro Sites the Next Wave of Business Promotion?
John Flynn Says:

September 26th, 2008 at 11:07 am

I agree that microblogging is taking a big piece of the pie away from these groups.

I still think Facebook is a better business tool then myspace.

But Twitter is growing at a fantastic rate!
Utah SEO Pro Says:

September 26th, 2008 at 11:52 am

Facebook is much better for Internet marketing though even though MySpace is #1.

Utah SEO Pro’s last blog post..Building an SEO Friendly Site – SES San Jose 2008 Presentation
Kyle James Says:

September 26th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

So it’s finally safe to say… Social Networking isn’t the next big thing. It’s here and starting to loose it’s excitement. Guess we have all found everyone that we haven’t talked to in a while and then realized why we haven’t talked to them for a while after all… hmmm…

Kyle James’s last blog post..Links of the Week September 26th, 2008
Zurpit Says:

September 28th, 2008 at 10:36 am

Even though the market is declining, face book still got a 50% improvement on the market share, so there’s still room for them to do better. Also its a great way to advertise your business you can just make a page and invite all your friends
PS3 Says:

September 28th, 2008 at 2:38 pm

It would be interesting to see the comparisons with the addition of age groups. My guess is that Facebook has a much more mature appeal?
Always A. Critic Says:

September 29th, 2008 at 5:49 am

Facebook is junk compared to MySpace. Know why? Because MySpace is Google-friendly and Facebook is not. How is Facebook good for business if you can’t be found? The controls are terrible and all profiles look alike. It’s fine for connecting with existing customers, but finding new ones? Not happening. And everyone is so suspicious on Facebook. “Do I know you?” Hardly spoken on MySpace but is routine on Facebook. The population on Facebook may have grown, but that doesn’t matter. What really matters is whether it’s of any use to you. There’s a local restaurant that has a Facebook profile. I couldn’t even find it without knowing the exact address. She didn’t pull up in any search. By contrast, it’s easy to find local businesses on MySpace. So stop kidding yourself just because you found a new toy. MySpace is still the way to go. Easier to promote, easier to be found, and it’s the de facto social site people expect to find you on. This comment expresses my opinion as it exists on 29 Sep 2008, subject to change without notice as new developments occur in the social networking field. And no, MySpace didn’t pay me to say this but they should.
Danny Brown Says:

September 29th, 2008 at 3:38 pm

@ “Always A. Critic”. Your reasoning about Facebook users being suspicious is exactly the reason why it’s preferred over MySpace.

Everyone is tired of the anonymous spammers on MySpace that it’s becoming almost a chore in itself to block users and delete spam emails/messages.

I would hardly call MySpace the “de facto” social site – perhaps this time last year, and most definitely dependent on your geographical location. In Canada, for instance, MySpace is a distant competitor to Facebook, way behind in popularity.

Of course, both MySpace and Facebook need to be very careful of driving both their userbases away with their penchant for advertising – something that is already deterring a lot of people from using either.

Danny Brown’s last blog post..It’s Not All About the Money
MGA Says:

October 1st, 2008 at 1:48 pm

Well, here is the thing; Myspace is only famous in US. But Facebook gets recognition all around the world. Don’t you think this is really important!
Anthony.P Says:

October 3rd, 2008 at 9:06 am

MySpace consists of kiddies mostly and Facebook is used by more mature audiences ranging from political figures down to mature adults.
Check Page Rank Says:

October 11th, 2008 at 8:46 am

My year book what? Thats my first time hearing about this site. And rare too to see a 3 word domain developed pretty good. Nevertheless I tagged is developing pretty well.
Rakhi Says:

October 21st, 2008 at 3:04 am

Everyone wants to be the leader, and this time it is facebook’s turn, defeating myspace and predications are like twitter will shine above all in the coming years. Stats reveals that there is decline in social network traffic.

Marketing Pilgrim