Networks Study
June 2010
Objectives & Methodology
Objective: To understand teens’ experience with social networking and
communities.
Methodology: The study was conducted online, using OTX’s secure and
advanced technological capabilities. Respondents were recruited via
OTX’s robust Online Sample Community
• The survey took respondents approximately 15 minutes to complete
• Field dates: April 26-29, 2010
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Executive Summary of Findings
Online teens in the US report they typically spend 2 hrs on the internet a day.
On average, 80% of that time is spent on a social network.
1. Is Facebook the new MySpace?: Most online teens belong to a social net, and Facebook is still by far
their #1 social network. But, a significant amount of teens report “Facebook Fatigue.”
– Among those teens who have created a profile, roughly one-in-five (19%) claim “they no longer visit Facebook”
or “are using it less than they did a year ago.”
3. Teens spend money on Social Nets: Among the more than 2-in-five Social Net Teens (43%) that
have spent money on or in a social network, most consider it “money well spent.”
4. Games garner most of the Social Net Spending among teens: 7% report that they’ve purchased a
“virtual gift” while twice that amount have purchased “currency in a game to by virtual items” (15%) or
“accessories for their avatar in a game” (14%). A significant amount of teens report that they’ve made
the following type of purchases in a social net:
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Executive Summary of Findings (2)
5. Social net spending teens have a Social Net Spending Allowance: Roughly ½ of teens that have
spent money on a social net, say they have an allowance to spend on these types of things (49%)
6. Access to money is an issue for the teens who haven’t purchased: Roughly 1/3 of those who
haven’t purchased items on/in a social net games, say it’s because they don’t have a credit card (34%)
and their parents don’t like them spending money on that stuff (32%).
7. Games have become teens’ predominant activity on social nets: Teens report that much of the
time they spend on social nets is dedicated to game play.
– More than a third of the teens that play games on Facebook claim that at least 50% of their time on the site
is spent playing games.
8. Social net games are taking over traditional game sites: More than three-quarters of online teens
play games on the internet, and most of that game play seems to be occurring on social net sites.
– Teen gamers on sites like Yahoo! Games, Addicting Games and Miniclip report playing less than 2.5 hours
per week on those sites, while the gamers on Facebook, Maplestory, Gaia Online and MySpace spend
more than twice that amount (6+ hours/wk).
9. Social net gaming seems to be igniting global consciousness among teens: More than 2 in 5 teen
social net gamers (45%) describe social net games as “a great way to meet gamers from around the
world,” and Gaia Online is acknowledged by users as the best site to do so.
10. Teens call social net games “addicting”: The majority of teens who play games on social nets
describe them as “addicting” and also say they’re “getting better.”
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Teens spend 80% of their “internet time” on social networks
• Teens spend roughly 2 hours and 20 minutes a day on the internet.
• Most of that time is spent on a social networks: 1 hr and 50 minutes on average
16:24
12:54
hh:mm
Time Spent Using Time Spent Visiting
the Internet Social Network
Sites*
QA: Which statement best describes your awareness/usage of each of the following social networks? Base: Total respondents
Q9. In an average week, how many hours do you spend on the following social networking site(s) you have a profile on? Base: Teens with a social net profile – 90%
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Facebook is still the top social net site among teens
• Twitter, WLS, Pandora, Gaia Online and Club Penguin are also popular among teens.
• Almost 2/3 of Online Teens have a profile on/use YouTube, compared to 41% on MySpace.
Have/Had a
Have a Profile
Profile but
and Use it
Stopped Using
Facebook 69% 9%
YouTube
MySpace
64%
41%
15%
22%
78%
Twitter 20% 15% have
Windows Live Spaces 16% 7%
Pandora 15% 6%
created a
Gaia Online 14% 13% profile on
Club Penguin 13% 24% Facebook
Stardoll 6% 8%
Flixster 5% 6%
90% Bebo
Friendster
Habbo
5%
5%
4%
10%
5%
8%
have a Hi5 4% 5%
GamerDNA 4% 2%
profile/use at LinkedIn 4% 4%
least one Roiworld 4% 3%
social net Yelp 3% 4%
Polyvore 3% 3%
Foursquare 3% 3%
Gowalla 3% 2%
Playfire 3% 2%
Orkut 3% 3%
Raptr 3% 2%
Netlog 2% 2%
Looklet 2% 3%
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Some teens are professing “Facebook Fatigue”
• Roughly one-in-five of the teens who’ve created a Facebook profile have become lapsed users
(“no longer visiting” or “using it less”).
• Most lapsed users report that their drop-off started within the last 6 months.
19%
When Facebook Usage Began to Decrease
(among Lapsed Facebook Users)
29%
20%
18%
“No longer visit” (or) 14% 14%
“Using Facebook Less”
68% 5%
Last Last 2-3 Last 4-6 Last 7-11 Last 1 to 2 More than
month months months months years 2 years
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Lack of interest is the top reason cited for lapsed Facebook usage
• More than a quarter of lapsed users (28%) are more interested in visiting other sites
• More than a fifth (21%) admit that most of their peers don’t use Facebook, and 16% say their
friends are visiting other social nets instead.
• 16% claim that other social nets are better now
Reasons Using Facebook Less or Not Anymore
Base: Using Facebook less or not anymore
Lost interest/it’s boring 45%
More interested in visiting other websites instead 28%
Too many notifications 27%
Most/all of my friends don’t use Facebook 21%
Got tired of trying to keep up with all the activity 21%
Too much activity
Too many ads 20%
Had trouble finding people I know 18%
Most of my friends are using other social networking sites 16%
Other social network sites are better now 16%
Facebook doesn’t offer the features I want 16%
Because my parents joined 16%
Parents/Older Users
Facebook has lost its novelty 14%
Too many adults/older people 14%
Uncomfortable with people seeing my personal stuff 13%
Privacy Issues
Don’t like the changes Facebook has implemented 12%
Didn’t like the people I met on Facebook 11%
Facebook attracts too many younger people 7%
Other 5%
Q2c: Which of the following are reasons you’re using
Facebook less or not using it anymore at all?
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Games garner most of the Social Net Spending among teens
• More than two-in-five Social Net Teens have spent money on/in a social network (43%)
• 16% have purchased a virtual gift, while more than twice that amount have purchased “currency
in a game to buy virtual items” (35%)
Items Spent Money On/In a Social Network
(among Social Net Spenders)
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Social net spending teens have a Social Net Spending Allowance
• Roughly ½ of teens that have spent money on a social net, say they have an allowance to spend
on these types of things (49%)
• Most of them consider it money well spent (55%) and say they’d spend more if they had it (60%)
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Access to money is an issue for teens who have yet to purchase
• Roughly 1/3 of those who haven’t purchased items on/in a social net, say it’s because they don’t
have a credit card (34%) and their parents don’t like them spending money on that stuff (32%)
• 61% view it as a waste of money
Q8A: Which of the following are reasons why you haven’t spent any money on
gaming in social networks? Base: Have not spent money on gaming in a social
networking site
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Games have become the predominant teen activity on Social Nets
• Roughly three-quarters of Online teens play games on the internet, and 81% of Facebook users
play games on Facebook.
• More than a third of Facebook Gamers (35%) dedicate more than 50% of their time on Facebook to
game play.
% Play Games on a Social Net Site
(Among Online Teens)
*Play 1+ hours/week
73%
81%
21% 21%
14%
35%
1-25 Percent 26-50 Percent 51-75 Percent 76-100 Percent
Q3: How many hours per week do you play games on each of the following sites?
Q9B. You Indicated that you spend X hours per week on Facebook. What percent
of that time is spent playing games on Facebook?
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Social net games are taking over traditional game sites
• Teen gamers on sites like Yahoo! Games and Addicting Games report playing less than 2.5 hours
per week on those sites, while the gamers on Facebook, Maplestory, Gaia Online and MySpace
spend more than twice that amount (6+ hours/week)
Mean Gaming Hours/Week
(among Users that play games on sites)
Facebook 7.0
Maplestory 6.8
Gaia Online 6.7
MySpace 6.1
Zynga 4.8
Pandora 3.4
Newgrounds 3.2
Hi5* 2.9
Yahoo! Games 2.6
Miniclip 2.6
Bebo* 2.5
Addicting Games 2.5
Club Penguin 2.4
Disney Online Games 2.2
Habbo* 2.0
Friendster 1.9
Cartoon Network Games 1.7
Orkut 1.7
Netlog* 1.6
Gowalla* 1.6
Q3: How many hours per week do you play games on each of the following sites?
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Teens say Social Net Games are “Addicting”
• The majority of teens view these games as a • Most teen social net gamers describe these
way to relax (73%), a cheap way to have fun games as “addicting” or “getting better”
(63%) and interact with friends (61%). (both 57%)
• More than 2 in 5 gamers say it’s “a great
Teens Perceptions of Social Net Games way to meet gamers from around the world.”
% “Strongly/Somewhat Agree” (Among All Online Teens)
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