PRactical Ramblings

I’ll admit it: I’m a Facebookaholic. I cringe at the number of times I visit the social networking site every day. I’ve considered deactivating my account to gain back precious hours I spend browsing the site, but the thought of no Facebook gives me anxiety attacks. No mini feeds? How will I ever know what my friends are up to?

I’m not alone. I can breathe a sign of relief. There are millions of other Facebook addicts out there. Youth Trends recently came up with its “Top Ten List Report,” and Facebook was students’ favorite Web site for the seventh straight quarter. More than 1,000 college students were asked to name their three favorite Web sites, and Facebook was a winner among 74% of females and 60% of males.

CollegeHumor, Break, and Digg all experienced gains this year among men, while the rise of Perez Hilton’s blog was the biggest surprise among women voters. YouTube was in the top five for both groups. What does this study say about college students? Well, the majority of us love social networking sites and visit them frequently.

A study conducted by Harris Interactive, Inc. in July of 2007 shows that 54% of college students visit social networking sites such as Facebook daily, 26% watch videos on sites such as YouTube daily, and 22% read blogs daily. Therefore, it’s no surprise that marketers are experimenting with social networking sites to reach their target audiences. According to eMarketer, a projected $1.6 billion will be spent on advertising to social networking sites in the United States in 2008.

Facebook is no fad for college students. As Youth Trends’ study suggests, social networking sites are here for the long haul.