This is perhaps no big surprise but provides us with more evidence of how social networks are now a dominant communication platform for UK consumers. Nielsen Online has reported that in the year to April 2008, the total number of minutes UK consumers spend on Facebook grew from 500m to 2.4bn. Their latest research shows that the large social networking platforms appear to be stealing share from instant messaging platforms, such as MSN, and the arrival of Facebook IM is likely to bolster that trend.
Entertainment and search sites have both experienced 8% growth in total minutes over the year. By comparison, consumer-generated media, which incoporate social networks and blogging sites have seen a 47% climb in minutes (+1.3 billion) over the same period. Nielsen calls this a 'seismic shift' in how people are spending time and communicating online.
The full Nielsen Online press release can be found here
