Report: People Spend Most of their Time Online on Social Networking Sites

More than half of world’s Internet population visited Facebook (News - Alert) in the month of October, and at least 20 percent of their browsing time was spent on these sort of social networking sites, according to a report from analyst firm comScore.

And it is the social networking sites which converge online and offline worlds, says analysts.

“Regardless of geography, social networks are weaving themselves ever more intricately into the fabric of the digital experience, opening a world of new opportunity for business and technology,” said Linda Boland Abraham, comScore (News - Alert) CMO and EVP of global development.

More than a billion people use social networking sites and they reach out to 82 percent of the world’s Internet population aged 15 and older. More than anything else, these online networks have vastly influenced human interaction on an individual, community and larger societal level.

The analyst firm says social networking accounted for nearly 1 in every 5 minutes spent online globally in October 2011, ranking as the most engaging online activity worldwide.

In October, Facebook reached more than half (55 percent) of the world’s global audience and accounted for 1 in every 7 minutes spent online around the world and 3 in every 4 social networking minutes.

Interestingly, the report found out, social networks are more popular Israel than they are in United States. Analysis of the most highly engaged global social networking markets revealed that Israel led all countries with visitors spending an average of more than 11 hours on social networking sites during the month. Argentina ranked second at 10.7 hours, followed by Russia (10.4 hours) and Turkey (10.2 hours).

The United States, at 6.9 hours per person, did not even rank within the top ten countries for social networking engagement

Microblogging has taken hold as a popular social networking activity on a global scale. In October, Twitter (News - Alert) reached 1 in 10 Internet users worldwide, growing 59 percent in the past year.

Other popular microblogging destinations seeing rapid adoption include Chinese site Sina Weibo, with its audience growing 181 percent in the past year to rank as the tenth largest social network in October.

Social networks are no longer the hangouts of youngsters alone. Nowadays there are people of all age groups; though people aged between 15 and 24 is the majority.

In fact, people age 55 and older represented the fastest-growing age segment in global social networking usage, with the penetration of social networks in the segment increasing nearly 10 percentage points since July 2010 to 80 percent in October 2011.

Smartphones are fueling the growth of social networks. In the U.S., 64 percent of smartphone users accessed social networking sites at least once in October 2011, with 2 in 5 smartphone owners connecting via social networking nearly every day.