I knew my intuition about fb was right :)

When I twittered this last month, I had a feeling that my hunch was true.


According to this recent study, Global Faces and Networked Spaces just released by Neilson Online this week, I was actually right! :)

Here’s some snippets from the 16 page report:
(Note: emphasis is mine)

“Social Networking has been the global consumer phenomenon of 2008. Two-thirds of the world’s Internet population1 visit a social network or blogging site and the sector now accounts for almost 10% of all internet time. ‘Member Communities’ has overtaken personal Email to become the world’s fourth most popular online sector after search, portals and PC software applications.”

“‘Member Communities’ has taken a foothold in every major market from 50% of the online population in Switzerland and Germany to 80% in Brazil. Facebook has become the largest player on the global stage.”

“A year ago ‘Member Communities’ accounted for one in every 15 online minutes globally – now it accounts for one in every 11.”

"In terms of sheer audience numbers, for example, the greatest growth for Facebook has come from people aged 35-49 years of age (+24.1 million). Furthermore, Facebook has added almost twice as many 50-64 year olds visitors (+13.6 million) than it has added under 18 year old visitors (+7.3 million).”

"Facebook has become the most popular social network in the majority of countries measured by Nielsen Online. It has the greatest reach in the UK, being visited by 47% of Britons online, and actually has a greater online reach in both Italy (44%) and Australia (38%) than it does in its country of origin - the USA (33%)."