A study by JupiterResearch shows that 25 percent of Internet user in the U.S. visit social networking Web sites. Overall in the U.S., it accounts for about 41 million people.
For the study, social networking sites were defined as “one that allows Internet users the ability to add user-generated content such as: comments, review, feedback, ratings, or their own dedicated pages.”
Probably one of the key findings that confirms what we talk about here all the time is that visitors to social networking sites are increasingly looking for things targeted to their interests.
There are a growing number of sites built around these specific interests which will continue to increase for a long time to come.
Rob Murray, president of iProspect said that "Most marketers would far more prefer targeting a very think slice of a highly relevant audience than doing the mass marketer appeal. Participation on these sites can take a couple different forms. "[Marketers] have to pick the right site, picking the one that most closely matches your online audience. Being very transparent in your communication is very important. Each community has its own rules of engagement; a marketer must abide by those rules."
As far as how visitors access these sites, most do it through existing bookmarks or direct navigation. Other than that, search through Google (GOOG) or Yahoo (YHOO) or clicking through an email link are other major ways sites are accessed.
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