Half of users desert MySpace over past year
MySpace user numbers fell by 49% over the past year, despite the launch of the much anticipated MySpace Music.
According to ComScore, MySpace’s audience fell from 6.5m in May 2009 to 3.3m in May 2010 – a period that has seen high-profile staff such as former CEO Owen Van Natta and UK marketing director Lindsay Nuttal leave the company. MySpace Music launched in December 2009 (nma.co.uk 3 December 2009).
ComScore’s research found nine out of ten of the 38.2m internet users over 15 in the UK used social media in May 2010. Facebook was used by 30.4m people, 79% of the UK online population. Its use increased by 28% over the past year, ahead of a 13% increase for people using social media sites generally.
Twitter has a comparably low user base with 4.3m users in the UK, but grew by 62% over the year.
Jamie Gavin, founder of communications agency Jay-G media, said, “The fact that nine in ten internet users are using social media is perhaps unsurprising. These tools have changed the very fabric of the way we use the web and are now as integral to online communication as search and email.”
According to the research, the number of hours spent using social media sites has grown by 54% over the past year, from 4.6 hours per person in 2009 to 7.1 hours in May this year.
This story first appeared on newmediaage.co.uk
