Do You Have a Favorite Social Network?

Advertisting Age looks at research from Anderson Analytics in a detailed report on the use of social networks. According to Beth Snyder Bulik, in her article in Advertising Age:

Your favorite social network may reveal a lot about you.

"Today 110 million Americans, or 60% of the online population, use social networks, and that number is fairly conservative, because instead of counting unique users or everyone who has an account, as many estimates do, the Anderson study counted only people who have used a social network at least once in the past month.

Users tend to spend a lot of time on social networks. The average social networker goes to social sites five days a week and checks in about four times a day for a total of an hour each day. A super-connected 9% stay logged in all day and are "constantly checking out what's new."

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Social-network users overall

Social networkers get a bad rap for using social media to pump up their egos and reputations with "fake" friends. But the truth is, in general, they're not super-aggressive about building networks. Almost half (45%) said they will link only to family and friends, and another 18% will link only to people they've met in person. That means almost two-thirds associate only with people they know offline. The fake-frienders are still out perpetuating the myth, though -- 10% of those surveyed said they will connect with anyone who's willing to connect with them.And another myth blown: Most users are not wasting company time. Only 15% said they go on social networks at work.

For a thorough look, see What Your Favorite Social Network Says About You.