Social Networks, Blogs Take up Most of Americans’ Time Online: Nielsen Survey

Americans' time online is mostly taken up by blogs and social networking sites, especially Facebook, according to a study conducted by the Nielsen company.

Whether it's a brand icon inviting consumers to connect with a company on LinkedIn, a news ticker promoting an anchor's Twitter handle or an advertisement asking a consumer to Like a product on Facebook, people are constantly being driven to social media, the company notes in its study.

Facebook leads the race by a wide margin.

Facebook has become synonymous not only with social media, but with Web use more generally, as Americans spend more time on Facebook than on any other site, the survey said.

People aged 18 to 34 have the highest amounts of visitors to social networking sites and blogs, although people in the 35- to 49-year-old category are also quite enthusiastic.

The survey results also show that women are more likely to visit blogs and social networking sites than males. New England is the U.S. region with the highest number of female social media users. And the majority of female users have bachelor's and postgraduate degrees.

As for men, they are more likely to visit LinkedIn and Wikia, the study notes.

I'm not all that surprised to see that people spend 25% of their online time on social networks, Gabriel Consulting Group analyst told Computer World. Social networks have become the online focus for many new computer users.