A new study conducted by market researcher Nielsen reveals that Americans are spending almost a quarter of their online time checking in with friends on social networking sites and blogs — more than double the time they spend checking their emails. In June 2010, the average American spent 22.7 percent of their internet time on social networks (up from 15.8 percent in June 2009), 10.2 percent of their time playing online games (up from 9.3 percent this time last year) and just 8.3 percent of their time checking and replying to emails (down almost 30 percent year-on-year).
“Despite the almost unlimited nature of what you can do on the web, 40 percent of U.S. online time is spent on just three activities - social networking, playing games and emailing leaving a whole lot of other sectors fighting for a declining share of the online pie,” said Nielsen analyst Dave Martin in a report released on August 2.
