Globally, 72 percent of Internet users are members of at least one social network, which translates to 940 million people worldwide, according to a new study by InSites Consulting.

Eastern Europe and Asia are the regions with the lowest social networking participation (4 out of 10), while South America has the highest usage in terms of percentage (95%). Brits mostly visit Facebook (50%), followed by Twitter (42%). Worldwide, Facebook remains the most popular social network (51% use Facebook), followed by MySpace (20%) and Twitter (17%).

The majority of Internet users are members of two or more social networking sites; this usually entails two sites used for private purposes.

"It is becoming difficult for new social sites to recruit members, said Steven Van Belleghem, Managing Partner of InSites Consulting.

"The majority of surfers are happy with their current situation and do not want to become members of a new platform. Furthermore, they do not intend to reduce their use of their current sites. There is therefore a certain degree of stability in this market."

Users of social media log in on average twice per day. On professional sites such as LinkedIn this percentage is lower, where the average is nine times per month. Different types of users exist: there are those who log in often though rarely write anything themselves and mainly observe others (14%). There is another group of 26% who frequently log in and write something every time they do.

The average British social media user has 173 friends. The global average is 195, South America is highest with average of 360 friends, followed by Portugal with 236 friends and the United States with 200 friends.

More than half (58%) of social media users have unfriended a friend. South Americans users are highest in this category too with 81 percent having removed people from their social network.
 

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