Looking at the trends, I am not surprised. Social Networking and blogging indeed has become the global consumer phenomenon. Two-thirds of the world’s Internet population visit a social network or blogging site and the sector now accounts for almost 10% of all internet time, reports from Neilson Online indicate.
‘Member Communities’ has apparently taken over ‘Emailing’ and has become the world’s 4th most popular online sector. Topping the list is of course ‘Search’, at the Number 2 spot is ‘General Interest Portals’ and at the 3rd spot is ‘PC software applications’.
Top 5 Most Popular Sectors on the Internet
| Rank | Sector | Global Active Reach (Dec 08) | Global Active Reach (Dec 07) | % Point Increase in Active Reach |
| 1 | Search | 85.9% | 84.0% | 1.9% |
| 2 | General Interest Portals & Communities | 85.2% | 83.4% | 1.9% |
| 3 | Software Manufacturers | 73.4% | 72.0% | 1.4% |
| 4 | Member Communities | 66.8% | 61.4% | 5.4% |
| 5 | 65.1% | 62.5% | 2.7% |
Member Communities take a foothold in the market
Highlights from the report:
- Member Communities have reached over 5 % points more of the Internet population than it did a year ago. The growth rate is more than twice that of any of the other four largest sectors.
- The strongest growth has come in Germany. It has reached 51% of Germans online compared to 39% last year. This amounts to an increase of over 12 % points.
- With the sector reaching 10% points more of the online population in each of these countries than it did a year ago, large growth has also occurred in:
- The UK
- Spain
- Italy
- Switzerland
Online reach of the Member Community Websites
The stats appear consistent across the globe. ‘Member Communities’ has taken a footing in every major market from 50% of the online population in Switzerland and Germany to 80% in Brazil. Germany has seen the greatest increase in online reach of Member Community websites. Take a look…
The reports also indicate an enormous spike in the time spent by people on these sites. It is very interesting to see how people spend their time online that has ramifications for how people behave, share and interact within their day to day lives.
Share your comments on what you think.
2 Comments
,..] http://www.devilsworkshop.org is one useful source of tips on this issue,..]
Quite informative there. I think social networking and Web 2.0 should be a top consideration for any online business to thrive.