Less Shopping, More Socializing

UK internet users are spending less of their online time shopping and more time using social media, according to the new Online Media Roundup from Hitwise.

Nearly 10% of all UK internet visits in March 2009 were to social networking websites, with Facebook leading the way. Entertainment websites attract another 11.6% of visits, and news and media sites draw 5.6%. All those figures are up from a year ago.

The largest single category of growth over the past year has been online video, up more than 33% from March 2008. However, it still accounts for fewer than 3% of all visits.