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Time On Social Networks Almost Doubles In a Year
GWMAW! writes "Spending more time on social networks and blogs? You're not alone, with the latest figures showing the number of minutes spent on social networking sites in the United States has almost doubled over the past year."
0*2=0
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Could this correlate to an increase in unemployment? I know when I was unemployed I spent a lot more time on the internet in general. Not so much on social networking sites, but they weren't nearly as popular back then.
"In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson
Well within the last year its become acceptable for everyone to have a Facebook, from Jr. High kids up to grandparents. Even last year Facebook was seen as only really used by high school and college kids. Now almost everyone, from my boss, coworkers and even my grandparents have a Facebook. Also, the popularity of code and host it yourself websites have been largely replaced with blogs so that would increase that popularity.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Time Wasted on the Internet Almost Doubles In a Year
I didn't really spend a lot of time on Facebook until I purchased an iPhone. Now with the app for that and Twitter, I find myself spending more time on these sites than normally due to accessibility. Kinda common sense comes into play here.
Facebook has been increasingly gaining users from the ages of 30+ for both social networking with work as well as personal. Just a year ago most of these users did not even think about joining facebook. I mean lets remember, it was just a few years ago that Facebook was reserved for those with an .edu email address.
Just because you are wrong and I called you out on it doesn't mean I am a Troll.
People are getting bigger than ever, there has been an explosion in waist sizes say baffled doctors.
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hold on, i think i'm going to have to tweet this fun little nugget of statistical data :)
I wonder if other activities have lost corresponding market share -- like television watching, reading, hobbies... This could have an impact on tv advertising revenue. Some of the RIAA's losses could probably even be attributed to people not having as much time to go to record stores. Maybe they'll sue MySpace and Facebook for "theft of audience."
I have never seen a more depressing statistic. I still don't use these sites and see them mostly as a waste of time. I can understand why they are popular, but with all the privacy issues I really don't understand why you would want to risk so much of your identity/information.
You sheep get off my lawn!
"He's lost in a 'floyd hole"
The number of people who don't have lives has doubled in the past year. Whether due to losing their jobs or other reasons, I'd say yes it is because those people aren't spending money elsewhere.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Social!? It's barely civil!
Since 1961 time on social networks has increased infinity fold every year. Yet in the last year it's slowed down to just doubling. Guess the party is over.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
its pretty sad to see the same news here thats on Yahoo. Is this really geeky tech cool shit? Answer - %6e%6f
Or is this more like an antisocial network?
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
By my calculation, if the number of minutes spent on networking sites double every year, in 20 years, 100% of our, 7 billion population, time will spend on networking site. If you didn't spend any time on it, other people will spent it for you. If that wasn't enough, future minutes will be used.
Disco stu: "Did you know that disco record sales were up 400% for the year ending 1976? If these trends continues... AAY!"
My own TV time has certainly dropped. These days, I'm more likely to be online instead of plopped in front of the TV.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
I have not watch broadcast television or used my Tivo since February and I seem to be keeping up fine with pop cultural references and the like in conversations. I'm going to cancel my cable forever this summer. I use Hulu but instead of watching 4-5 shows I watch 3 now and I get all my news in textual form. One thing I have begun noticing is that when discussing a current event lately that my liberal (MSNBC) and conservative (foxnews) friends quickly gel into imitative stances on any issue that seem to have been picked up from watching the same talking head deliver the news to them every night for years. They even began arguing over O'Reilly and Olberman and how each was lying just like they do on television.
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
My own TV time has certainly dropped. These days, I'm more likely to be online instead of plopped in front of the TV.
That is why Dr Phil has episodes like "digital mistakes".
http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/1008
I'm sure oprah, the soaps, etc, will all mobilize against the horrors of online socializing. It takes time away from watching their shows. Even worse, young people use those services and we have to sit thru the agonizingly overdone expose that anything young people do, is the devil, because they do it.
Expect to hear a lot more about "craiglist killer" etc from the mainstream media, at least until the MSM collapses and goes away.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
If it has ever been considered cool, trendy or otherwise "the thing to do" then I didn't do it. Among these things are the pubic-mound-tuft of hair that encircles a man's mouth, the tribal tattoo (or a tattoo of any kind), PINK SHIRTS, tying sweaters around one's shoulders and any hair cut that would utterly humiliate someone ten years later.
This crap is not hard to avoid. It doesn't matter if "chicks dig it" at any point in time. "Chicks" minds are like milk -- only good "now" but if you wait a while... not so good. Bottom line for me is any time a guy does something "for chicks" they are setting themselves up to look like an ass in the near future.
But the main reason I never got into these social networking sites? I can't be shallow or superficial. "Oh look! Another friend!!" If they were really your friends, they would help you move!! That's not entirely true... if I were a hot chick, nearly every single guy on my friends list would help me move if I asked them to... yes... you guys. You're a bunch of chumps.
Um, you don't have to give any information that you don't want people to see.
Is it depressing that you're posting on Slashdot? Obviously, you only publish or put on your profile what you want people to see.
I'd also point out that Facebook (as well as places like LiveJournal) are much better than Slashdot when it comes to privacy, as you can have several levels, e.g., restricting information to only be visible to some people. On Slashdot, it's visible to all. So why are you here?
hmmm... cause or effect?
the only permanence in existence, is the impermanence of existence.
It now takes me twice as long to find anything!
How dare you be so modest!! You conceited bastard!!
The article said that total time spent on the sites increased but said nothing about per-user changes.
Is it just the media that is attracting everyone or it is the inherent psychological desire to be accepted by growing group of people we call friends?
I agree with the posters that it is waste of time, but why do people join it in the first place and then waste their time? I think the insecurity and peer pressure of being out of the crowd, is driving people to do be on a or *the* social site.
Keeping the bad things aside, these sites are the best platform to asses the social, demographic and psychological markup of the society, which might be failing? Being an Anonymous Coward, I would have to agree that it is failing :-)
"Spending more time on social networks and blogs? You're not alone, with the latest figures showing the number of minutes spent on social networking sites in the United States has almost doubled over the past year.".
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A rise of 83% would be significant if the growth were arithmetic (a growth entirely based on an 83% increase in each individual's usage, for example), but common sense would suggest that the growth is geometric, since a growing user-base leads to an increased time-commitment for each user. By its very nature, a social-network demands more attention as it grows.
A quick beer-mat calculation suggests that, if an increased user-base of 35% (hardly astounding) led to an increased equivalent per-user time-commitment, that would account for the 83% increase in total population time commitment.
So, not exactly an amazing figure in my opinion. Personally, my time spent on FaceBook and such has dramatically decreased ever since the novelty wore off and I realised it had reached unmanageable proportions. I don't want to spend half my time keeping track of the minutiae of a bunch of distant-old-friends' and friends-of-friends' lives. It's just not worth it.
Meta will eat itself
Yeah, Facebook is a great way to find out what your friend's top five favorite appliances are. Or even better, what their real name or aura color is! Can we get two times more of that please?
Wooden armaments to battle your imaginary foes!
...had to rush over to the TimeOn site to register. If it is doubling in size every year soon the whole world will be on it!!!