Social network use triples in a year

If you are one of those managers who scoff at the idea of social networks, you better get used to them. It's no longer a toy for Gen Y. It's a trend that affects everyone and has serious implications for your business.

New numbers from Nielsen show the amount of time spent surfing social networking and blogging sites has tripled since last year. That suggests "a wholesale change in the way the Internet is used," said Jon Gibs, VP of media and agency insights at the company's online division.

The total time spent on social networking and blogging sites accounts for 17 percent of the total time spent online, up from 6 percent a year ago, according to Nielsen. Those numbers have an enormous effect on how you advertise. Even as companies decrease overall ad expenditures, they increase their spending on social networks and blogs.

That means you can no longer just throw up a bland website and wait for your customers to come on by. It means that it's time to get interactive. Facebook led the way in the Nielsen analysis as advertisers' number one choice. MySpace still ruled in a few industries: Entertainment, Financial Services and Hardware & Electronics.

The lesson in all of this is that things are changing constantly. What was hot last year is ice cold this year, and it's important for the IT exec to stay on top of all these changes.

For more on the growth of social networking:
- see this New York Times article

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