Facebook is growing fast in the UK

Users in the UK are increasingly turning to social networking sites according to a recent report from comScore. In August, comScore researchers found that social property Facebook was the fastest growing online destination point for UK users.

by Kristina Knight

Facebook saw more than 18% growth for the month of August with more than 8.9 million users signing on. With the onset of the football season, Premiumtv.co.uk was the second highest-growing online hub with 17% growth (3 million users) and fall vacation planners sought out Disney Online to boost those sites to 16% growth (3.7 million unique users).

Why such growth for Facebook? Since opening registration for the general public, more and more users have been signing on. Facebook has shown more than 2,000% growth in the UK since opening to the public in September 2006. Before allowing the general public to sign on, users on the Facebook platform had to have an email address associated with a university or college.

There hasn't been much change in the highest trafficked sites in the UK in the most recent report. Google sites remain number one with 28 million unique users (88% reach) with Microsoft sites a close second, pulling in 26 million unique users (83% reach). Online auctioneer eBay also has a strong hold on the UK audience with 21 million uniques (67% reach).