| The Changing Face Of Social Networking - Move Over MySpace, There's A New Kid In Town
The social networking industry is rapidly growing and introducing new concepts, relationships and experiences online. MySpace is one of the largest social networking sites with more than 100 million reported members since its inception in 2003, and more than 255,000 new members joining every day. Facebook is beginning to gain ground, achieving more unique users than MySpace for the first time in 2007 and seeing more active and frequent daily visitors than MySpace in 2008. As new players continue to enter the social networking space, there is a clear need to understand how current social networking users perceive these new sites and to identify what key features are required to prevent loyal users from being wooed by the ever growing competition.
Highlights
* 68% of consumers currently use a social networking site
* 80% are likely to use a social networking site in the next year
* 76% of users are likely to communicate with friends they know online
* Among ages 13-19, users significantly prefer Facebook (51%) over MySpace (36%)
* Among ages 30-39, users significantly prefer MySpace (34%) over Facebook (16%)
* 71% of users find Facebook easy to use, compared to only 54% on MySpace
* Facebook is also rated more secure; While MySpace offers more customization |