Americans blog more, e-mail less

A Neilsen study finds online users dedicate almost a quarter of their Internet time to social networks with Facebook the most popular, InformationWeek reports.

 

“Despite the almost unlimited nature of what you can do on the web, 40 per cent of US online time is spent on just three activities – social networking, playing games and e-mailing, leaving a whole lot of other sectors fighting for a declining share of the online pie,” Nielsen analyst Dave Martin said in a statement.

 

In its report, "What Americans Do Online," Neilsen said US Internet users spent 22.7 per cent of their time on social networking sites, up 43 per cent from the 15.8 per cent they spent in 2009, InformationWeek said.

 

Internet users spent only 8.3 per cent of their online time reading and writing e-mails, a figure down almost 28 per cent from last year's 11.5 per cent, the report said.

 

By contrast Neilsen's study found Americans spent 42 per cent of their online time using e-mail via their phones to access the Internet.

 

"While convergence will continue, the unique characteristics of computers and mobiles, both in their features, and when and where they are used, mean that mobile Internet behaviour mirroring its PC counterpart is still some way off," Martin said.