Social Networking Up 93% Since 2006

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 by Joe Hall

Social Networking Up 93% Since 2006

Market research firm Netpop has released a new study today that suggests that social media is expanding at a fast pace. According to their findings social networking has increased 93% since 2006. This comes to no surprise to most of us that have followed sites like Twitter and Facebook that have seen unprecedented growth over the last couple of years.

However, one interesting statistic is that 54% of micro-bloggers post or “tweet” daily. Also 74% of the daily micro-bloggers are under the age of 18.

Apparently, 105 million Americans contribute to social media, but only 7 million are “heavy” social media users who connect with 248 people on a typical week.

While I think that the fine folks at Netpop are usually spot on when it comes to their numbers, one statistic threw me for a loop. According to the report, the amount of time people spend communicating online has increased 18 percent since 2006. This isn’t that surprising, but what throws me for bit of a loop is that at the same time the report indicates that time spent on online entertainment has declined 29% since 2006. Declined? This comes at a time when we see more and more evidence that online video is making huge strides. With traffic increases and new services fighting to provide the best video entertainment, I am having a hard time understanding a decline in “entertainment.”

But what ever the case may be, this Netpop report looks to have quite a bit of data covering the last two years. Get a glimpse of the data in the slide show below.

Netpop | Connect: Media Shifts to Social 2009 Preview

View more presentations from Netpop. (tags: internet communication)

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

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12 comments on “Social Networking Up 93% Since 2006”

Iyad Says:

March 3rd, 2009 at 11:55 am

“Also 74% of the daily micro-bloggers are under the age of 18.” Is this true??

Iyad’s last blog post..The Daily Show: “My Stalker Just Grunted On My Twitter”
Joe Hall Says:

March 3rd, 2009 at 12:06 pm

@lyad – Clarification: thats 74% of the 54% that tweet daily. So that’s around 40% of the whole.
Rudy Says:

March 3rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm

Great post on our findings, Joe–I really appreciate it!

To clarify a bit on the decline in entertainment. Since the data is self reported, this finding shows that people *perceive* that their entertainment consumption online is going down relative to communication, information, etc. Consumption of entertainment channels certainly seem to be rising on the whole, but broadband users think that they spend much more time communicating.

Hope that makes things more clear!
Joe Hall Says:

March 3rd, 2009 at 12:38 pm

Thanks Rudy for stopping by and adding that to the conversation. I can see now how some might perceive a decrease in entertainment as they move off of older forms of online entertainment such as flash games and on to video consumption, which despite the fact is new, could still be regarded as old to many users given that the format and content has changed little from the transition from TV.
Andy Beal Says:

March 3rd, 2009 at 1:28 pm

@Rudy but as long as you’re measuring the same “perceived” value as you did in 2006, then the decline is accurate, no?
Rudy Says:

March 3rd, 2009 at 1:55 pm

@Andy Exactly–we are arguing that even though people may be watching online videos more, maybe watching TV less, they feel that — of the total time they spend online — they are spending more of that time communicating (talking) and less of it being entertained. How much of the time are people on YouTube spending watching the videos versus reading what people have to say about them? We might include that question next time and think it’s a fair question to ask.

Rudy’s last blog post..The percent of time people spend communicating online has increased 18 percent
TBC » Social Media FTW Says:

March 3rd, 2009 at 10:50 pm

[...] According to a recently released study, social media has been going through the stage of exceptional growth for the last three years. The number of users of social media websites has reached 105 million. More details and stat data for those who interested are here. [...]
Darren Tan Says:

March 4th, 2009 at 9:51 am

The verdict is, Social Networking is still at hatchling stages. It’s still growing strong.

Darren Tan’s last blog post..Music Review: ?Friendly Fires? by Friendly Fires
wineconversation.com » Blog Archive » Excuse me while I go exploring Says:

March 4th, 2009 at 4:52 pm

[...] Social Networking Up 93% Since 2006 (marketingpilgrim.com) [...]
Internet Strategist Says:

March 4th, 2009 at 9:13 pm

Perhaps the respondents mean they’re spending more time online communicating and less time being passively entertained? Thanks for the market research. It is some of the most valuable of all content and also the least easy to locate. I also noted your contest and will be adding it to my most recent post on giveaways.

Internet Strategist’s last blog post..Why You Should Enter These Contests and Giveaways – Send Us YOUR Contest NOW
marco Says:

March 6th, 2009 at 7:36 am

> social network = < real social life
Your SEM News for the Week of March 10, 2009 | SageRock Digital Marketing Blog Says:

March 10th, 2009 at 3:45 pm

[...] Social Networking Up 93% Since 2006 one interesting statistic is that 54% of micro-bloggers post or “tweet” daily. Also 74% of the daily micro-bloggers are under the age of 18. [...]

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