Social Networking Sites Faring Well
American males and females between the ages of 17 and 25 agree on one thing: Facebook is engaging. The social networking site was noted as the number one site among both groups, but was more popular among females.
Facebook was noted as the top Web site by 52% of U.S. females ages 17-25, while 35% of males indicated the same sentiment.
Females in the U.S. deem MySpace a close second, with 49% saying it was their favorite Web site. Google was a distant third with 14%, followed by Yahoo! with 10%, and YouTube with 9%, rounding out the top five.
The male segment had much more parity in their rankings. Google was number two with 26% of males saying that it was their favorite online destination, while Yahoo! ranked third with 22%, ESPN was fourth with 20%, and YouTube was fifth with 18%. MySpace held the sixth spot with 13% of U.S. males saying it was their favorite Web site.
This information comes from a Youth Trends survey that asked males and females ages 17-25 to list their three favorite sites in a variety of categories.
The survey also found that the television show of choice for males is Family Guy, their favorite magazine is Sports Illustrated, and their favorite video or computer game is Madden NFL 2007.
For females, the television show of choice is Grey’s Anatomy, their favorite magazine is Cosmopolitan, and their favorite video or computer game is Spider Solitaire.
In related news, social networking sites are seeing increasing popularity and financial potential abroad.
In Western Europe, 32% of Web users ages 16-24 say they visit social networking sites at least once a month. Of all Web users in Western Europe, 23% say they visit social networking sites at least once a month.
While online social network ad spending continues to strengthen in the U.S., worldwide figures (which exclude the U.S.) are showing promising upward growth as well. Ad spending in this realm overseas is expected to reach $260 million by 2007, and $665 million in 2010. In 2006 this figure was $95 million.
Sources:
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1004326
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1004325&
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