Global consumers spent more than five and a half hours on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in December 2009, accounting for an 82 percent increase from the same time last year, according to The Nielsen Company. The new study found that overall traffic to social networking sites has increased over the last three years.
When ranked by average time spent online in December 2009, social networks and blogs were the most popular category, followed by online games and instant messaging. Facebook secured the number one spot as the most popular global social networking destination in December 2009, with 206.9 million unique visitors.
U.S. statistics from The Nielsen Company also reveal that Americans are spending more time on social networking and blog sites than ever before, with total minutes increasing 210 percent year-to-year and the average time per person increasing 143 percent year-over-year in December 2009. According to Nielsen data, year-over-year growth in terms of average time spent by U.S. users for both Facebok and Twitter.com, outpaced the overall growth in the category, increasing 200 percent and 368 percent, respectively.
Although month-to-month unique visitors decreased 5 percent, Twitter.com secured its first place slot as the fastest-growing U.S. social networking site in December 2009, increasing a whopping 579 percent year-to-year.