comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study on social networking usage in Australia, which found that more than 70 percent of Internet users in Australia visited a social networking site in June, up 29 percent from the previous year. Facebook continued to show significant growth, while Twitter came onto the social networking scene with a bang in 2009, quickly amassing a significant following. The study also found that social networking users are ubiquitous across the Web, comprising nearly 90 percent of the audience base of the top Internet properties in Australia in June.
“Social networking continues to grow in popularity both across Australia and throughout the world,” said Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. “Social networking is now an essential part of peoples’ daily online routine, providing a level of engagement and reach that far exceeds most other content categories. Understanding how to leverage this audience successfully is both a challenge and significant opportunity for most digital marketers today.”
3 out of 4 Australians Visited a Social Networking Site in June
Nearly 9 million Australians visited a social networking site in June, making it one of the most popular content categories on the Web. Facebook led as the most visited social networking destination with more than 6 million visitors and growing 95 percent from the previous year. MySpace Sites ranked second with 3.5 million visitors, up 5 percent, followed by Windows Live Profile with nearly 2 million visitors. Twitter witnessed the most substantial growth, surging to 800,000 visitors in June, up from just 13,000 visitors a year ago. Orkut also achieved significant growth reaching 252,000 visitors, up 607 percent.
| Top Social Networking Sites in Australia Based on Unique Visitors June 2009 Total Australian Internet Audience*, Age 15+ – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore World Metrix |
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| Total Unique Visitors (000) | |||
| Jun-08 | Jun-09 | % Change | |
| Total Internet : Total Audience | 11,044 | 12,386 | 12 |
| Social Networking | 6,862 | 8,857 | 29 |
| FACEBOOK.COM | 3,125 | 6,102 | 95 |
| MySpace Sites | 3,369 | 3,530 | 5 |
| Windows Live Profile | N/A | 1,962 | N/A |
| Bebo | 1,627 | 1,475 | -9 |
| TWITTER.COM | 13 | 800 | 6,122 |
| DEVIANTART.COM | 259 | 505 | 95 |
| DIGG.COM | 329 | 494 | 50 |
| TAGGED.COM | 246 | 475 | 93 |
| Buzznet | 269 | 409 | 52 |
| Orkut | 36 | 252 | 60 |
*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Audience of Largest Online Properties are Heavy Social Networkers
According to comScore Segment Metrix, a marketing segmentation tool, visitors to the top properties in Australia displayed a strong skew towards also visiting social networking sites. Though less than 72 percent of the total Internet audience in Australia visited social networking sites in June, approximately 90 percent of visitors to the top 20 most popular properties were among this group. Similarly, while 14 percent of the total Internet audience can be classified as “heavy social networkers” (i.e. the top 20 percent of visitors to the social networking category by time spent), approximately 25 percent of visitors to the top 20 properties were among this group.
| Top Properties in Australia Based on Unique Visitors with Social Networking User Composition June 2009 Total Australian Internet Audience*, Age 15+ – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore Segment Metrix |
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| Total Unique Visitors (000) | % of Audience that are Social Networkers | % of Audience that are Heavy Social Networkers | |
| Total Internet | 12,386 | 71.5 | 14.3 |
| Google Sites | 10,674 | 78.1 | 16.4 |
| Microsoft Sites | 9,470 | 81.7 | 18.0 |
| Facebook.com | 6,102 | 100.0 | 26.0 |
| Yahoo! Sites | 5,563 | 85.2 | 23.4 |
| eBay | 4,857 | 84.7 | 23.7 |
| Fox Interactive Media | 4,271 | 97.7 | 29.9 |
| Apple Inc. | 4,048 | 88.5 | 26.6 |
| Telstra Corporation Limited | 3,977 | 82.8 | 23.6 |
| Wikimedia Foundation Sites | 3,848 | 91.3 | 27.3 |
| AOL LLC | 2,955 | 95.1 | 31.1 |
| News Interactive Pty Limited | 2,939 | 89.1 | 28.5 |
| Fairfax Media | 2,921 | 88.1 | 27.0 |
| Ask Network | 2,764 | 87.0 | 27.4 |
| CBS Interactive | 2,653 | 90.9 | 27.8 |
| Amazon Sites | 2,170 | 92.4 | 31.3 |
| Commonwealth Bank of Australia | 2,083 | 85.4 | 23.3 |
| Glam Media | 1,861 | 94.2 | 35.4 |
| WordPress | 1,766 | 95.1 | 35.4 |
| New York Times Digital | 1,728 | 93.6 | 33.4 |
| Viacom Digital | 1,654 | 92.5 | 32.0 |
*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Google Sites ranked as the most visited property in Australia in June with 10.7 million visitors, 78 percent of whom were visitors to social networking sites and 16 percent of whom were heavy social networkers. Microsoft Sites ranked as the second largest property with 9.5 million visitors, followed by Facebook.com at #3 with 6.1 million visitors.
Social networking users made up 83 percent of Telstra Corporation visitors, while other local sites also saw their audience base favor social networking, including Fairfax Media (88 percent social networkers) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (85 percent social networkers). Glam Media and WordPress had the highest composition of heavy social networkers at 35.4 percent each, followed by New York Times Digital (33.4 percent), Viacom Digital (32.0 percent), Amazon Sites (31.3 percent) and AOL LLC (31.1 percent).
“Knowing that the vast majority of a site’s visitors are social networking users should be a wakeup call to any marketer trying to understand its audience,” continued Mr. Hodgman. “Engaging your audience is not only about how you interact with them when they are on your site, but also about how you reach out and interact with them through other online channels, including social networks. As social networking sites increasingly become one of the Internet’s most popular destinations, it is especially critical for media companies to engage their audience where they are spending the majority of their time online.”