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Social Networkers Turn TV Off, Internet On
Social networkers would rather log on to their favorite social networking site (17%) than do just about anything, including watch TV (14%), surf the internet (10%), and play video games (9%), according to the April 2007 study, "Never Ending Friending." Commissioned by MySpace, Carat, and Isobar and conducted by TNS, Teenage Research Unlimited, and Marketing Evolution, the study also found that 32% of social networkers ages 14 to 40 have increased their internet usage since joining a social networking site. Both TV watching (16%) and video game playing (20%) decreased as a direct result of social network participation.
The survey reports that social networkers tend to sync their "real life" and virtual life social networks throughout the day, with 15% saying they're regularly on their favorite social networking site first thing in the morning, 16% before work/school, 18% at lunch, 25% at school/work, 31% after work/school, 68% in the evening, and 30% late at night. Social networkers say they use the sites to connect with their regular friends (69%), friends with whom they have lost contact (46%), family members (41%), people from outside their city (31%), and people they know only in the virtual world (27%).
Learn more (eMarketer)
Learn more ("Never Ending Friending" PDF)