Nine out of ten 25-34-year-olds visited a social network in May

According to its report, 24.9m people accessed at least one social network in the UK in May, averaging 4.6 hours over the month. Based on the average time spent per user, social networking was the second most popular online activity, behind instant messaging, which averaged 8.6 hours.

Some 67% of internet users over the age of 55 used a social network in May, more than visited business and finance (63%), technology (62%) and travel sites (52%).

Mike Read, senior VP and MD of ComScore Europe, said, "Understanding audience composition is particularly important in a category such as social networking because there continues to be a misconception that it's the preserve of the young. While those under 35 are certainly the mose prevalent users, there's a sizeable and heavily engaged audience of those 35 and older as well.

"In fact, advertising on social networks has a better chance of reaching these older demographics than site categories such as business and finance," he added. "This is a critical insight that might be lost for those trying to optimise their campaign against target audience segments."

Published by: Charlotte McEleny

Published 20th July, 2009

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