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Social Networking and Libraries

This press release tells me a few things:
1. Social networking sites drive traffic to other sites (not too fine a point but MySpace can drive traffic to library sites too.)
2. It’s growing faster than other modes and we’re seeing video, music and social converge in new ways. (Libraries play in all those camps too so the alliance is natural.)
3. There are some top 20 social sites that I’ve never heard of (arrghhhh).
Stephen
One in 20 US Internet Visits Went To Social Networking Websites In September 2006
Hitwise Releases US Consumer Generated Media Report:
MySpace Responsible for 83 Percent Increase in Traffic to Shopping Websites
NEW YORK, NY – November 8, 2006 – Hitwise, the world’s leading online competitive intelligence service, today announced that in September 2006, one in every 20 US Internet visits went to one of the top 20 social networking websites, nearly double the share of visits compared to a year ago. This and other findings were released today in the Hitwise US Consumer Generated Media Report, which examines recent trends in social networking, photo sharing and online video.
MySpace (www.myspace.com) was the undisputed leader in social networking, receiving 82 percent of visits among the top 20 leading social networking websites in September 2006. Visits to MySpace increased by 51 percent from March to September 2006, outpacing category growth in visits of 34 percent. Other social networking websites which received larger than average growth in market share of visits between March and September 2006 were: Bolt (www.bolt.com), up 271 percent; Bebo (www.bebo.com), up 95 percent; Orkut (www.orkut.com), up 63 percent; and Gaia Online (www.gaia.com), up 41 percent.
The influence of MySpace crosses over into other industries as users integrate social networking visits with other web activity. In September 2006, 2.4 percent of visits to Shopping & Classifieds websites came directly from MySpace, an increase of 83 percent since March 2006. Other industries receiving increased traffic from MySpace in that period were Telecommunications, Banks and Financial Institutions, and Travel.
The report also highlights how photo hosting and user generated video websites have become a new cog in the creation of content and present additional opportunities for advertisers. The market share of visits to the leading photo hosting website, PhotoBucket (www.photobucket.com), increased by 43 percent from March to September 2006, while visits to community-oriented photography website Flickr (www.flickr.com) increased by 49 percent and visits to YouTube (www.youtube.com) were up 249 percent in the same period. YouTube ranked at number 26 among all US Internet domains in September 2006, and Photobucket ranked at number 34.
“This report shows how influential the creation and consumption of user content has become as a web activity, and demonstrates its significance in driving web traffic to other categories,” said LeeAnn Prescott, director of research at Hitwise. “The use of social networking, photo hosting, and online video websites represent a significant shift in online user behavior, and Hitwise Clickstream data is particularly useful in understanding how these users are interacting with the web.”
To receive a copy of the report please visit:
http://www.hitwise.com/registration-page/us-cgm-report.php
For updated data on the topics discussed in the report please visit:
http://weblogs.hitwise.com/leeann-prescott/2006/11/social_networking_sites_recove.html
About Hitwise
Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Only Hitwise provides its 1,200 global clients with daily insights on how their customers interact with a broad range of competitive websites, and how their competitors use different tactics to attract online customers.
Since 1997, Hitwise has pioneered a unique, network-based approach to Internet measurement. Through relationships with ISPs around the world, Hitwise’s patented methodology captures the anonymous online usage, search, and conversion behavior of 25 million Internet users. This unprecedented volume of Internet usage data is seamlessly integrated into our easy to use, web-based service, designed to help marketers better plan, implement, and report on a range of online marketing programs.
Hitwise is a privately held company headquartered in New York City and operates in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore. More information about Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.com.
For up to date analysis of online trends and statistics, please visit the Hitwise Intelligence Analyst Weblogs at weblogs.hitwise.com and the Hitwise Data Center at www.hitwise.com/datacenter.

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Posted on: November 8, 2006, 11:05 pm Category: Uncategorized

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