CorpComms Magazine

Facebook users are Internet junkies, spending 3.26 times as long online as their non-Facebook-using counterparts, according to a recent study by Australian Internet analysts Nielsen Online.

Of the 14 million Australian Internet users, 63 per cent have a Facebook profile and spend an average of 25.8 hours online each week compared to only 7.91 hours activity for those without one. The average time Facebook members spend on the site now outstrips the time non-members spend on the Internet as a whole.

According to Mark Higginson, director of analytics at Nielsen, the findings suggest the emergence of a stark 'digital divide' between those who consider the Internet a means to an end and those who view it as a social destination in its own right:

'Our conclusion is that those who use Facebook view it as another media platform. They think Will I watch television or surf on the Internet for a while? Whereas non-Facebook users tend to the view the Internet as more functionally orientated. They think I have to do my banking or I have to pay this bill.

'Facebook users consume media, whereas non-users use the Internet as a tool.'

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