CHART CLOSE-UP FROM THE STORY:
April US Social Networking Traffic Down 16% from '07 »
(scroll down to read the full story)

April US Social Networking Traffic Down 16% from '07

The market share of April US visits to a custom category of 57 of the leading social-networking websites increased 3% from March - but was down 16% from April 2007,  Hitwise reports. MySpace.com led in traffic, receiving 73.82% of the market share of US visits in April.

• Facebook ranked second by the market share of visits, with 14.80%, followed by MyYearbook, which received 1.33%.
• US traffic to MySpace and Bebo, among the top 5, decreased 5% and 13%, respectively, compared with April 2007.
• MyYearbook had the largest gain in market share in April 2008, increasing 475% compared with April 2007.
• Facebook and BlackPlanet followed, increasing 32 and 15%, respectively.

New and Returning Visitors

• Among the top five social networking websites by market share, MySpace received 95% of its visits from returning visitors in April.
• Facebook and MyYearbook.com followed with 93% and 90%, respectively, of traffic returning from within the previous 30 days.

Time Spent on Network

• In April, the average time spent among all social networking websites increased 73% compared with April 2007.
• Among the top five most-visited websites, MyYearbook led with users spending an average of 32 minutes and 54 seconds on the website.
• Facebook had the largest growth in average time spent, increasing 57% in April 2008, to 20 minutes and 52 seconds, from 13 minutes and 19 seconds in April 2007.

Hitwise, a subsidiary of Experian, has issued a social networking report, “The Impact of Social Networking in the US,” analyzing which industries are most affected by social networks and discussing changes in audience profile of social networking websites over the last year.