Half of 8 to 17-year-olds have online profiles

Category: Web 2.0

April 3rd 08, 10:49

Almost half of all people between the ages of eight and 17 with access to the internet have their own social networking profile, the UK's communications watchdog has revealed.

Ofcom's research discovered that 49 per cent of young users in this age group are active social networkers, compared to 22 per cent of adult users aged over 16.

The average adult has 1.6 profiles across different sites, with about 50 per cent of adult social networking users logging onto their profile at least once every two days.

Among those who did not use social networking websites, three key reasons emerged as deterrents.

These were concerns about safety, technical inexperience and the feeling that such websites were a waste of time.

Meanwhile, those who were active online networkers were split into five groups: alpha socialisers, attention seekers, followers, faithfuls and functionals.

American Airlines' latest marketing move is a Facebook application that enables users to share travel tips and stories with their friends.

This news story was brought to you by Bluhalo, a leading UK digital agency.

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