Report: Social networking now bigger than e-mail

That's the word from Nielsen, which reports that the worldwide "reach" of sites like Facebook and MySpace has now outgrown that of the most popular e-mail services.

According to the Nielsen Company's new report, nearly 67 percent of global Internet users last year went online to use a social networking service of some kind, compared to just 65.1 percent for e-mail. (In case you're wondering, search is still king with a global Net "reach" of 85.9 percent, followed by "general interest portals" with 85.2 percent, according to Nielsen.)

Another finding: When you consider global Internet use, about one in every 15 minutes was spent browsing social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace in 2008, the report claims—and apparently, that number is going nowhere but up.

Oh, and in case you hadn't noticed, social networking isn't just for kids anymore (as those of us who've been inundated with friend requests from long-lost high school buddies can attest). The Nielsen study analyzed "member community" growth among age groups in 2008, and it turns out that more 35-49 year-olds took up social networking last year than anyone else (about 24 million additional unique visitors over 2007), followed closely by 18-34 year-olds and 50-64 year-olds (13.6 million new unique visitors).

In terms of the social networking horse race, Nielsen gives the crown to Facebook with 108.3 million unique visitors in 2008, followed by MySpace with 81 million and Classmates Online with 19.7 million.

Overall, I'm not surprised. In the last year or so, I've noticed that more of my pals are ignoring their old e-mail accounts and using Facebook to send messages—and in practical terms, it's easier to message friends over Facebook or MySpace accounts than to dig up their latest e-mail addresses.

And as far as seniors getting the social networking bug, well … I knew that was happening the moment my parents asked my about Facebook.

So, do you spend more time browsing Facebook and MySpace than checking your e-mail account? Care to tell us your age? And which service are you using?

Related:
Social Networking’s New Global Footprint [Nielsen, via BBC News]