networks

The majority (53.1%) of Internet users belong to at least one social networking site, but the amount of time spent on the sites is somewhat short, compared to overall time spent online, according to a new report from Burst Media. Among 18-34 year olds, 40 percent spend less than 30 minutes per day on sites like Facebook and MySpace. The top content categories for that demographic actively seek out entertainment news (48.6%), gaming (40.5%), local/national news (37.3%) and social media (35.5%).

Compete is pointing to some interesting data, and suggesting that Hulu's "evil plot to take over the world" might just be working. The popular video site has surpassed NBC, FOX and ABC's websites in traffic for the first time. And that was last month. "The networks’ traffic declined during the summer rerun season, but Hulu seems relatively unaffected," notes Compete's Seth Madison.

While the majority (83%) of Internet users are actively involved in social media, less than 5 percent use social sites for research about making purchases, according to a new report from Knowledge Networks. Additionally, only 16 percent of social media users say they are more likely to buy from companies that advertise on social sites.

Even when consumers aren't showering them with cash, retailers need to stay in touch, according to a new report.  And Rockbridge Associates and the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business recommend that they do so by maintaining presences on social networking sites.

Results from an ad Network Study from Collective Media show that interactive agencies and advertisers continue to use and invest in online ad networks despite the current downturn in the economy.

More than half (63%) of system administrators are concerned that employees share too much personal information on their social networking profiles, putting company infrastructure at risk, according to a new survey by Sophos.

Buying ads on ad networks is standard practice these days. In fact, according to an article from AdAge, 65% of ad buys will pass through ad networks in 2009. Even in tough times like these that’s a lot of money.

It’s been said several times our favorite social networks have really struggled to turn a profit. YouTube, MySpace, Twitter and Facebook all are in this same boat, though they must not be a total money sink since they’re still around. The bigger ones do have advertising programs in place at least.