LONDON, July 20 --
- Internet Users Age 55 and Older More Likely to Visit Social Networking Sites
than Business Finance, Technology and Travel
comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today
released the results of a study into U.K. social networking site usage by age of
visitor, based on data from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement
service. The study found that 29.4 million people accessed at least one social
networking site in the U.K. in May, averaging 4.6 hours per visitor during the
month, with Facebook.com ranking as the most visited social networking site.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO)
Social Networking Reach High Among All Age Groups
Social networking has become a mainstream online activity among all age groups,
with 80 percent of the total U.K. online population having visited a site in the
category in May. Penetration was highest amongst 25-34 year old Internet users,
89 percent of whom visited the category during the month, followed by 15-24 year
olds (86 percent). Category penetration was somewhat lower among the older age
groups, but remained relatively high, reaching two thirds of the total online
population age 55 and older. Comparatively, slightly more people from this age
group visited a social networking site in May than visited a business finance
(63 percent), technology (62 percent) or travel site (52 percent).
Engagement also skewed more heavily towards the younger age segments, with
15-24 and 25-34 year olds averaging 5.4 hours per user per month compared with
3.7 hours per month among users age 55 and older. Overall, social networking was
the second most popular online activity in the U.K. based on average time spent
per user (4.6 hours), trailing only instant messaging (8.6 hours).
Age Profile of U.K. Social Networking Site Category Visitors May 2009 Total
U.K., Age 15+ - Home Work Locations Source: comScore World Metrix
------------------------------------------------------------- Age Segment %
Reach Average Hours per Visitor ----------- ------- -------------- Total U.K.
Internet Audience 80% 4.6 ------------------- -- --- Persons: 15-24 86% 5.4
-------------- -- --- Persons: 25-34 89% 5.4 -------------- -- --- Persons:
35-44 79% 4.3 -------------- -- --- Persons: 45-54 77% 3.9 -------------- -- ---
Persons: 55+ 67% 3.7 ----------- -- --- *Excludes Internet activity from public
computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Accurate demographic profiling is the crux of effective digital media planning
and advertising, said Mike Read, SVP and managing director, comScore Europe.
Understanding audience composition is particularly important in a category such
as social networking, as there continues to be a misconception that social
networking is the preserve of the young. 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. 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.
Top 10 Social Networking Sites in U.K.
Of the 36.9 million people in the U.K. age 15 and older who accessed the
Internet from a home or work location in May 2009, 29.4 million visited at least
one social networking site, representing an 80-percent reach and a 9-percent
growth versus year ago. Facebook.com ranked as the most popular social
networking site with 23.9 million visitors, followed by Bebo.com (8.5 million
visitors), Windows Live Profile (6.9 million visitors) and MySpace Sites (6.5
million visitors). Micro-blogging site Twitter.com grew more than 3,000 percent
during the past year to 2.7 million visitors in May 2009.
Top 10 Social Networking Sites Ranked by Total U.K. Unique Visitors (000)* May
2009 vs. May 2008 Total U.K., Age 15+ - Home Work Locations Source: comScore
World Metrix --------------------------------------------- Property May-08
May-09 % Change -------- ------ ------ -------- Total U.K. Internet Audience
34,489 36,855 7 ------------------- ------ ------ - Social Networking 27,118
29,444 9 ----------------- ------ ------ - Facebook.com 15,195 23,860 57
------------ ------ ------ -- Bebo 11,895 8,546 -28 ---- ------ ----- ---
Windows Live Profile N/A 6,891 N/A -------------------- ---------- -----
---------- MySpace Sites 8,335 6,531 -22 ------------- ----- ----- ---
Twitter.com 80 2,670 3,226 ----------- -- ----- ----- Digg.com 1,311 1,759 34
-------- ----- ----- -- Friends Reunited Group 3,271 1,629 -50
---------------------- ----- ----- --- Tagged.com 669 1,625 143 ---------- ---
----- --- Deviantart.com 900 1,453 61 -------------- --- ----- -- Buzznet 939
1,370 46 ------- --- ----- -- *Excludes Internet activity from public computers
such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world
and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information,
please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
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http://twitter.com/m_abraham
SOURCE: comScore, Inc.
Jamie Gavin, comScore, Inc., +44(0)207-099-1775, worldpress@comscore.com
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