UK tops social networking usage in Europe

ENGLAND: UK participation in the social networking usage is highest in Europe with 24.9 million unique visitors - 78 per cent of the total UK online population – belong to the country's social networking community, according to comScore’s report on the online habits of the UK's social networking community.

The report is based on data collected through the comScore Segment Metrix H/M/L analytical tool, which was released last month.

Social networking sites such as Bebo.com, Facebook.com and MySpace.com facilitate informal communications and information sharing across the Internet.

The European social networking community stood at 127.3 million unique visitors in August - reaching 56 per cent of the European online population.

Usage of social networking sites in the UK proved heavier than the European average in terms of hours spent, pages viewed, and the number of visits per month. The average visitor to social networking sites in the UK spent 5.8 hours per month on those sites in August and made 23.3 visits. This was a significantly heavier usage level than in France, which averaged 2 hours per month and 16.8 visits per visitor, or Germany, with 3.1 hours per month and 13.8 visits per visitor, the report said.

Bob Ivins, EVP of International Markets at comScore, said, "This study reveals the importance of looking beyond averages if one is to clearly understand the characteristics of the key segments that make up the users of social networking sites. Averages provide a valuable summary of the behaviour of visitors to European social networking sites.”

“Using comScore Segment Metrix, marketers can define consumers behavior across the full range of 110 categories reported in the comScore World Metrix service and identify the best sites for reaching the desired segment across the web -- making media and promotion plans more targeted, efficient and effective," he added.

Heavy users of social networking sites in the UK (defined as being the most active 20 percent of the social networking community by time spent social networking), spent a substantial amount of time viewing social networking content in August, devoting 22 hours per person to their favourite social networking sites and making 71 visits.

The survey excluded the traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.