Conference Board: 43% of Internet users now in social networks - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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Of Web users, 43 percenr use a social networkingWeb site, up from 27 percenrt last year, the nonprofit global researchy group said in its quarterly Consumed Internet Barometer. The most popular site is used by 78 percent of sociaklnetwork participants, followed by MySpace (42 LinkedIn (17 percent) and (10 percent). The survey trackd about 10,000 Internet-equipped households nationwide. It said seniorzs age 55 and older are quickly increasin their use ofsocial networks, up from 6 percent last year to 19 percen this year.
Women are more likely than men touse social-networki sites (48 percent versus 38 The majority of users log on at The Conference Board said, with a quartefr logging on at work, and 10 percentt connecting through their phone. More than half say they log on at leastt oncea day. "Online socialk networks are more than just a fad among theyoungee generation," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Boars Consumer Research Center, in a statement Tuesday. "They'ver become an integral part of our personal andprofessional lives. They’re an effectiv e way to keep in touchwith people, connecy with friends and family, and network with colleagues.
"Social mediza will also transform marketing as weknow it. They’r e powerful communication tools, and are becoming an essential part of successfulmarketing strategies." The survey said Faceboo k is equally popular among men and women, whilr women are more likely than men (47 percent versues 35 percent) to use MySpace and more men than womenm (21 percent versus 15 percent) use LinkedIn.
Userd of the micro-blogging site Twitter said their top reasonwfor "tweeting" are to connect with friends (42 update their status (29 percent), look for news (26 and for work-related reasons (22