eMarketer: Socnet use will continue to grow

According to a new report from eMarketer, "Social Network Demographics and Usage", social networks are here to stay and are "an essential part of the Internet experience".

Every month this year at least 127 million people, or 57.5% of the online population, will use a social network, estimates eMarketer. That doesn't mean they're all flocking to Facebook. Despite it being the largest social network with over 400 million users, there are plenty of others out there including Odnoklassniki (Russia - 45 million users), Google's Orkut (popular in Brazil and India - 100 million users) and Qzone (China - 200 million users).

The popularity of social networks is set to continue with eMarketer predicting that, by 2014, almost 165 million people - two-thirds of all Internet users - will regularly use social networks.

So, marketers shouldn't take their foot off the social media pedal just yet because, despite the doom and gloom scenarios surrounding a potential Facebook exodus, social networking is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

That gives marketers plenty of time to figure out their role in social networking environments.

"The main issues marketers should focus on now are what will drive future growth in usage; what consumers like to do on social networks and the role these networks play in their lives; and how mobile devices and location-aware services bring new context to social networking," says the report.

Tags: Internet usage, research, social media, social network, trends