Social Networks Are Used by 80 Percent of UK Internet Users

Social networking is big and it's getting even bigger. A new study in the UK conducted by research firm comScore shows that social networking is the second biggest online activity, second only to instant messaging. Even more telling is the fact that it's spread evenly across all demographics with users of all ages equally engaged.

The study shows that 80 percent of all Internet users in the UK visited at least one social networking site in May 2009 and spent, on average, 4.6 hours per month browsing this type of sites. Not surprisingly, younger users tend to be more engaged and spend the most time on social networks but the difference between age groups isn't that great. The most active are users between 25 and 34 years old, of which 89 percent use social networking and spend 5.4 hours every month on these sites. Not far behind are those between 15 and 24 years old, with 86 percent of them visiting a social network at least once a month and spending on average 5.4 hours per month.

Older users are close too, with 67 percent of Internet users above 55 years old visiting a social network while spending on average 3.7 hours on them. Those between 35 and 44 and those between 45 and 54 also spend a considerable amount of time on social networking sites, 4.3 and 3.9 hours respectively, with the majority of them, 79 and 76 percent respectively, visiting one in May.

“While those under 35 years old are certainly the more prevalent users, there is both a sizeable and heavily engaged audience of those 35 and older as well,” said Mike Read, SVP and managing director, comScore Europe. “In fact, advertising on social networking sites has a better chance of reaching these older demographics than site categories such as business and finance, which is a critical insight that might be lost for those trying to optimize their campaign against target audience segments.”