The British like their social-networking Web sites, as they handily beat out all European countries in usage in all categories measured, according to data from comScore's Segment Metrix H/M/L analytical tool.
For the overall European social-networking market, there were 127.3 million unique visitors in August. That accounts for 56 percent of the total online population in Europe, said MarketingCharts.
For the UK, they received 24.9 million unique visitors across the various social-networking sites - making up 78 percent of all UK people online. In the numbers of monthly hours online, visits per montha and pages viewed, the UK Internet user was also leading the way.
Data also showed that the most active social-networking users from the UK were on sites for 22 hours per person, while making an average of 71 visits. That's in contrast to the average user in the UK, which visited sites for 5.8 hours monthly, and 16.8 overall visits.
The heavier users also viewed over 3,000 pages a month in the UK.
"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," said Bob Ivins, comScore EVP of International Markets. "Averages provide a valuable summary…but as the segmentation of this audience shows, there is a lot more that smart media planners need to know."
He was referring to the fact that 80 percent of the activity at social-networking sites was the result of 20 percent of visitors. The 80/20 rule still applies in these cases as well.
Comment Preview