Social networking sites growing at a blistering pace, says ComScore report

Social networking sites worldwide have grown substantially in the past year, with some sites registering increases of as much as 270 percent, according to a study released by Internet measurement company ComScore Inc.

Social networking behemoth MySpace.com attracted more than 114 million global visitors age 15 and older in June 2007, representing a 72 per cent increase versus year ago. Facebook.com experienced even stronger growth during that same time frame, jumping 270 per cent to 52.2 million visitors. Bebo.com (up 172 per cent to 18.2 million visitors) and Tagged.com (up 774 per cent to 13.2 million visitors) also increased by orders of magnitude.

MySpace drew more than 114 million global visitors in June 2007 — a 72 per cent increase over the past year, ComScore revealed Tuesday. Facebook, which in September last had stopped limiting access only to college or university students or workers, experienced a 270 per cent increase in worldwide visitors over the past year.

Bebo, a popular social networking site in the United Kingdom, saw a 172 per cent growth, with 18 million visitors in June 2007 alone. Tagged, a social networking site aimed at teenagers, grew 774 per cent over the past year, attracting 13 million visitors in June.

"Literally hundreds of millions of people around the world are visiting social networking sites each month and many are doing so on a daily basis," said Bob Ivins, ComScore executive vice president of international markets in a statement. "It would appear that social networking is not a fad but rather an activity that is being woven into the very fabric of the global Internet."

The study also showed that some resonate more strongly in particular regions. MySpace and Facebook, for example, both get about two-thirds of their audiences from North America, while 63 per cent of Bebo users come from Europe.

Orkut, Google's social networking site, gets 49 per cent of its audience from Latin America, while 89 percent of Friendster visitors come from the Asia Pacific region.

"A fundamental aspect of the success of social networking sites is cultural relevance," continued Ivins. "Those doing well in certain regions are likely doing an effective job of communicating appropriately with those regions' specific populations. As social networking continues to evolve, it will be exciting to see if networks are able to cross cultural barriers and bring people from different corners of the globe together in fulfilling the truest ideals of social networking."