March 11, 2009 
This plays into my post earlier about changes in communication patterns…
I certainly have begun to see more of my social (personal) online communications moving from e-mail to social networking tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Plaxo. I almost never trade e-mails with my siblings any more.
So, it wasn’t a big surprise when I saw the blurb in the USA Today which said that “social networks and blogs” have moved ahead of personal e-mail as the most popular online activities (per Nielsen report).
A few facts:
- 1 of every 11 minutes is spent on these social networking and blogging sites.
- Time spent on the sites is growing 3x faster than overall Internet usage.
- 2/3rds of the world’s online population visit these sites.
- The US was third (after Brazil and Spain) with 67% of the population visiting these sites.
- Facebook is visited by 3 in 10 people monthly.
- 10.6M people in the US access these sites through their mobile devices.
Enabling Healthy Decisions 
“I certainly have begun to see more of my social (personal) online communications moving from e-mail to social networking tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Plaxo.” Linked In is a place where you can get to find your old friends, new friends, co-workers, and even a job. By the way, did you know that networking expert Jan Vermeiren has written a book about LinkedIn? It is called “How to REALLY use LinkedIn” (see: http://www.how-to-really-use-linkedin.com) He also gives away a free light version and access to webinars.