September ushered in television network season premieres, increasing not only television ratings, but also online video viewing. Unique viewers of video content at the four television networks increased an average of 155 percent in September over the previous month. In addition to new and favorite shows, coverage of the presidential campaign and the financial crisis attracted viewers online. And let’s not forget the comic relief. Political parodies and gaffes provided plenty of online fodder for viewers looking for a good chuckle amid bleak economic times. See the full press release for additional online video metrics.
Concurrent with record turnout at the polls on Election Day, Americans turned up in big numbers online. U.S. Internet users visited Current Events and Global News sites at a rate 27% higher on Election Day than they did on the previous Tuesday. The day after the election, online buzz about President-elect Obama spiked; he was mentioned in nearly 20% of all blog posts at one point. Check out our full release outlining Nielsen Online’s final look at election 2008.
After nearly two years of campaigning, umpteen focus groups, myriad polls, and lively discussions about plumbers, wardrobes, flag pins and, yes, even the economy…we are approaching the finish line. In the end, though, the only thing that really counts will be counted on Tuesday, as Americans head to the voting booth. But while we still could, Nielsen Online took a look at online metrics around the campaigns - including site traffic, video use and buzz. And while we eagerly await Tuesday’s outcome, we are already wondering how the 2012 campaigns will differ as it relates to the Web, video and social media in particular. We’ll be measuring!
Nielsen Online’s September results for the top social networking sites include some familiar names - Myspace.com continues to lead the pack, followed by Facebook and Classmates.com. What is interesting is that nearly half of the biggest social networking sites are also among the fastest growing - and they are all most popular (when ranked by composition index) among age groups over 25.
Facebook and LinkedIn, although established in the social networking space, clearly still have growth momentum. Unlike MySpace, which indexes highest among visitors 12-17 and maintains a youthful feel, Facebook and LinkedIn are counting on the integration of social networking into visitors’ professional lives. They index highest among those 25-34 and 35-49, respectively. Reunion.com, a site to reconnect with old friends, classmates and colleagues, is most popular among visitors 55-64. This niche site’s strong growth in the past year is yet another indicator that social networking is not limited to the under-30 set. Finally, Tagged.com, which has really taken off since April of this year, indexes highest among 35-49 year olds. This is especially noteworthy since Tagged was originally targeted towards high school students, but has since been opened up to anyone older than 13.
MySpace is still going strong, but what these up-and-coming social networks remind us is that the story here is far from being played out. Many social networks are launched and fail, but with the right combination of reach and function, there is still room for others to ante up.
