37% of Canadian adults have visited online social networks

A new study released by Ipsos Reid, “Online Socialization, Social Networking and Online Communities“, has found that nearly four-in-ten Internet-enabled adults in Canada (37%) have visited an online social network or online social community and three-in-ten (29%) have placed a profile on at least one such site.

Younger Canadian adults are much more likely to have visited these websites and to have placed a personal profile on at least one of them. Nearly two-thirds of 18 to 34 year olds (63%) have visited an online social network or community and more than half of (55%) have placed a personal profile on at least one. Meanwhile, three-in-ten 35 to 54 year olds (29%) have visited such a site and one-in-five (21%) have placed a personal profile on one. One-in-five Canadians aged 55 and older (20%) have visited an online social network or community and one-in-ten (9%) have placed a personal profile on one.

Not only have Internet users signed up in droves, but most visitors of these sites end up putting on a profile. With nearly four-in-ten Internet-enabled adults in Canada (37%) having visited an online social network or online social community and three-in-ten (29%) having placed a personal profile, nearly eight-in-ten visitors have been converted to active users.

Canadian adults who have heard of and/or visited an online social network spend an average of 5.4 hours per week browsing and using online social networks. Facebook is the most popular online social network among Canadian adults with a personal profile on such a site. Two-thirds of adult Internet users in Canada who have placed a personal profile on an online social network or online community have one on Facebook (65%), compared to one-in-five with a personal profile on Classmates.com (20%), one-in-seven with a profile on MySpace (15%) and one-in-eight with a profile on Windows Live Space (13%). Facebook users spend the most time online using the site per week, an average of 5.9 hours, among all online social network users in Canada.

Originally posted on October 4, 2007 @ 10:32 am