Aussies spending more time on social networks

According to a new report from comScore, social networking now accounts for 21.9% of the total time that Australians spend on the internet - up 5.3% in 2010.

‘The State of the Internet in Australia’ report reveals that social media is playing an increasing role in consumers' daily routine online.


Visits to portals accounted for 19.7%, down nearly 10% from the previous year, while Instant Messengers accounted for 11.6% of time, down 7.7%, as both categories lost share to social networks. However, entertainment, which accounted for 9.1% of total time spent in 2009, increased 2% to 11.1%. Group-buying sites also continued to gain traction over the past year with Cudo garnering 418,000 unique visitors in
December 2010.

Will Hodgman, executive vice president at comScore, said: “2010 was dynamic year for the digital media industry in Australia. Consumers are turning to the internet with increasing frequency for a vast array of activities including entertainment, commerce, news and information and communication, as digital media
becomes embedded in the daily lives of Australians.”

The the large growth in time spent on social networking platforms also shows a huge shift in how consumers are communicating within their own networks.

This has huge implications for how businesses are trying to reach people. If they're not on sociel networks, like Facebook or Twitter, they will most likely fall behind and further out of contact with their customers.

This year, comScore expects to see continued innovation and more competition as an increasing number of brands turn to social networks in order to capture consumers’ attention.

Other results from the report showed that Microsoft Sites - such as ninemsn - led as the most-visited internet property in Australia, followed by Google Sites and Facebook.com.

In terms of top sites by total minutes spent, Facebook took the number one spot, followed by Microsoft Sites and Google Sites. The report also found that more Australians visited retail sites online compared to last year. Amazon and Apple were the the most-visited retail sites online.

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