I have just read this article and it made me smile as it ‘fits’ with so many of the things that I have been saying about the culture and internet use here in Spain and the rest of Europe.
I have written a brief post on it for Gadgetell which I have included below, along with a full copy of the article:
Gadgetell Post
The UK has a reputation for ‘binge drinking’ and now it seems it has taken that addiction over to its use of Social Networking sites as it leads Europe in sites visited on a regular basis:
More than three-quarters of British internet users regularly visited social networking sites in August, outpacing their peers in Germany, France, Spain and Italy
- UK internet users spent an average of almost six hours during the month visiting sites
- The top 20 per cent of UK visitors spent 22 hours at the sites
- Less than half of online users in France and Germany use social networking sites
- Germans spent an average of 3.1 hours per user on the sites, and the French two hours per user
- 61% of Spanish web surfers visit social networking sites, but only for 1.8 hours per month
- 49& of Italians visit the sites, for an average of 1.8 hours per month
The report stated that one reason was that the internet was more established in the UK, which it is, but being English and living in Spain I would add that the main reason is that culturally the Spanish (and for that read Italians and French as well) are far more interested in spending their free time in a cafe talking with real people than tapping away at a keyboard!
Via [Macworld]
Full Article
More than three-quarters of British internet users regularly visited social networking sites in August, outpacing their peers in Germany, France, Spain and Italy, according to figures released on Wednesday from comScore Networks.
UK internet users spent an average of almost six hours during the month visiting sites such as Facebook.com and Bebo.com, comScore said. The top 20 per cent of UK visitors spent 22 hours at the sites.
By contrast, slightly less than half of online users in France and Germany used social networking sites in August. Germans spent an average of 3.1 hours per user on the sites, and the French two hours per user.
A higher proportion of Spanish web surfers visited social networking sites – about 61 per cent – but they clocked up an average of only 1.8 hours per month. In Italy, 49 per cent of internet users visited the sites and spent an average of 1.8 hours there.
Last week comScore said Facebook.com was the fastest growing internet property in the UK. The site grew 18.3 per cent in August to reach just under nine-million unique visitors.
UK users spend more time on the social networking sites for a couple reasons, said Jamie Gavin, a comScore spokesman. The UK is a mature internet market, with more and more people using the internet for reasons other than e-commerce or banking, he said.
Also, most of the major social networking sites were launched first in English, and companies behind those sites have been slow to create local language versions, Gavin said.
The European social networking community stood at 127.3m unique visitors in August, or 56 per cent of the European online population.
ComScore compiles its data from people aged over 15 who agreed to put monitoring software on their computer that records their surfing habits. About two million users worldwide participate in the program.
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Ok – I was going to post a shout about this blog post but it has made me realise I am spending too much time on these social networking sites and I am off to find a cafe & one of these real people to talk to. So to quote Tony Blair – “Thats is, the end”. Thanks for everything Chris. Bye 🙂
Well unlike Tony Blair you were fun and constructive while you were around 🙂
Good luck in your search – see you back here when you realise it just isn’t like that there!!!
Well I found a cafe and talked to a real person. It was going really well. She was 6″ tall, blond blue eyes, page three model figure but Oxford University Graduate brain. Has a real thing for short, slightly over weight mid 30’s blokes and unlike 99% of the population didn’t think teachers were tossers who get too many holidays.
On top of that, she wanted to do research for a new edition of the Karma Sutra she was writing.
unfortunately, on the way back to her Mansion I noticed one of her bags was from PC world. I asked what she had bought.
A copy of windows Vista.
So I’m back. These ‘real people’ are not what they are cracked up to be 🙂
What are the odds? You meeting my cousin like that!!!!!!
You should have checked further though – she way buying Vista to run on her Mac Pro with Dual Screens, that for some bizarre reason she only ever uses when she is naked!
Chris, you should meet some of the guys at my college.
People are actually known by their MySpace user names!
Literally the second I posted that shout I got an email from FaceBook saying I am in Tim Verpoorten’s Tom friends :-p
FaceBook oddly enough I hardly use, most of my “friends” on it are over 30 compared to MySpace, where theyre all under 14! Hmmm, what does that say about me!!
I have the same email from Tim.
I am not so sure about you ‘pimping’ me round your college mates though 🙂
Psshhh – ur like the blogger Brad Pitt :-p
Hmm – that makes Sands Angelina which will make her day!!!
@Chris: [quote comment=”12927″]You should have checked further though – she way buying Vista to run on her Mac Pro with Dual Screens, that for some bizarre reason she only ever uses when she is naked![/quote]
Bugger!
Hey, its damn hard to not go on those social networking sites and post about random junk and such when your a student and everyone else is on them :P, speaking of which… *heads over to facebook*
@Dunks – well apparantly if you ask nicely ………..
@Tom – STOP, get back to the design stuff we have ongoing 🙂
@Tom – yeah that includes mine too!!
(whats your facebook?)
This sounds like a mass exodus from chrismarshall.ws to facebook. I don’t know if it’s me but I find facebook very cumbersome and confusing. I met few old friends there, but I guess “I’m too old for this s%#t”.
See you there 🙂
It does seem a a little like that. I am not even a friend of Danny on Facebook yet here he is soliciting my friends off my site 🙂
I don’t know you get the guy a gig on MRC, you write the content for his new (has to be said great) application, and this is how he repays you …….
Should have seen it coming when he started to drop down the Frequent shouts list!!!!!
I am not into these social networking sites at all, mainly because I am not really all that sociable I guess.
Im sorry Chris, I guess I just cant help it that your blog is such a social hub! 🙂
That’s right – bigger and better than Facebook, that makes my site worth more than $10bn!!!
I think that the top three shouters should have a share in the $10bn? Anyone agree? Also I got to question the shout-counter. One day I’m on top, my voice hoarse from shouting, and all I need to do is leave town for a day, and I’m slipping down. I’m sticking to this site though, facebook is not that good.
Counts over the last 30 days, so all you need is to have missed a few days when someone else was really active and you will slip temporarily.
I have no doubt that you will climb to the top again in the near future.
Good to see you plan to hang around to share the loot 🙂
I have looked at myspace, facebook etc and have just never found any interest in those type of sites. I guess because I like web design I would rather create my own site than be constrained by the design/feature set provided. I know this leaves me unable to make use of the ‘networking’ aspect but hey.
In terms of social sites I visit, I’d rather find the ‘Chrismarshall.ws’ of this world. Sites/blogs whose content, style of writing and community profile is in tune with me. I also like the functionality of these type of sites.
I’d be interested to hear what other feel they gain from myspace/facebook etc? I may well be missing the point entirely!
@Dunks – Im afraid you are a little bit. The point is not so you have a web page, but its that you build up “friends”, the site then becomes a way to communicate with these “friends” – thats where the networking comes in.
Well I feel all warm and fuzzy again 🙂
I have been mulling over some articles on social networking sites etc.
I really don’t ‘need’ any of them to be honest but that is part generational and part personality – if there was anybody that I had wanted to keep in touch with fron the past I would have done.
At the base level I am uncomfortable with all these ‘friends’ that people have that they have never met, don’t really communicate with etc etc.
It seems to me that far too often the ‘credibility’ is in how many contacts you can muster in your profile, and far far too much of the stuff on these type if sites is one way – look at me, my new post, I have bought a new Mac, I want you to know about me but can’t be arsed to ask you a question about you etc etc
@Chris
Wouldn’t this describe a blog? 🙂 [quote comment=”13186″]It seems to me that far too often the ‘credibility’ is in how many contacts you can muster in your profile, and far far too much of the stuff on these type if sites is one way – look at me, my new post, I have bought a new Mac, I want you to know about me but can’t be arsed to ask you a question about you etc etc[/quote]
The only reason I got on facebook, because I wanted to see what was this hoopla about. I found some old friends there, that I lost contact with over the years. Didn’t make any new ones though.
@Danny … I don’t think you are missing the point. I find facebook is good for quick little messages to people who you don’t remember and email address to, or to share something interesting, with friends, and that’s about it. That’s all I get out of it. Like you I rather find the “chrismarshall.ws” of the world, where you can engage in an inteligent discussion about the topics that interest all the readers.
That’s my thought….
Blogs, twitter, Facebook, you name it – hell it probably describes a whole generation to be honest! It is a ‘trend’ that I am really struggling with at the moment – shallow, sycophantic, lacking substance etc.
I have a lot of accounts, but none that I actually think I need – they all exist because someone somewhere invited me!
I have been considering a strict Web 2.0 diet in November once the run is out of the way and a few things have settled down. I reckon I could actually dump them all and have no adverse or negative impact!
There is one i find really useful and thats twitter. Its a great idea and I find it really handy to a) communicate with a couple of people when theyre not on IM (*cough* Chris) and b) know what people are up to.
If we take you as an example chris I know not to email you with something relatively immediate if you have twittered something along the lines of “gone running”.
I agree about twitter, especially as a ‘news’ type ticker tape, for informing of a new post etc.
Yeah, never got that wordpress plugin working – may need your help!
@Mac: [quote comment=”13226″]Like you I rather find the “chrismarshall.ws” of the world, where you can engage in an inteligent discussion about the topics that interest all the readers.
That’s my thought….[/quote]
Glad someone else has this point of view! It understand how these sites work but just don’t find any excitement/interest in using them and therefore don’t share the mass enthusiasm thats out there.
@Danny – no problem, add it to our list!!!
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