According to a recent study released by Anderson Analytics, Facebook is the most popular and valued social networking site.
The study, which involved the results of a survey of 5,000 social media users in the U.S., found that 75 percent of respondents said Facebook is the most valuable social networking site, followed by MySpace with a 65 percent response.
LinkedIn (30 percent) and Twitter (12 percent) followed behind.
Just 29 percent of respondents said they could “probably do without” Facebook, while 43 percent said the same about Twitter, and 35 percent said the same about MySpace. LinkedIn also received a 29 percent response to this proposition.
According to Andersen Analytics, Facebook boasted 78 million users who logged on at least once last month, followed by MySpace with 67 million, Twitter with 17 million and LinkedIn with 11 million.
Figures released recently by comScore peg Facebook’s unique audience at 77 million unique visitors in June, and MySpace’s at 68.4 million.
“Users of Facebook (59%), Twitter (59%), and LinkedIn (53%) were much more likely to say their social networking site usage was increasing compared to users of MySpace (40%),” according to a statement released by Anderson Analytics.
MySpace has the youngest user group, with an average age of 29, according to Anderson Analytics. Twitter’s user group has an average age of 33, while Facebook’s user group has an average age of 34. LinkedIn, not surprisingly, had the oldest user group, with an average age of 36.
Approximately 110 million people in the U.S. are regular social networking site users. This translates into 36 percent of the total population, according to Anderson Analytics.
“Youth is still a major determinant of social networking usage, the report found, with 61% or 67 million regular users, defined as those logging on at least once a month, under age 35,” according to a press release.
“Our research shows that Facebook users clearly understand the value of their network,” said Tom H. C. Anderson, managing partner of Anderson Analytics. “Twitter’s challenge will be to add more value to its service, and LinkedIn’s challenge will be to give users reasons to go there more often, something Twitter seems especially good at.”
Sources:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/07/prweb2623884.htm
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=109657
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/13/the-gap-grows-wider-myspace-eats-facebooks-dust-in-the-us/
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