Minnesota, USA -September 12, 2011 - It should be no surprise that according to the Nielsen Report, 23% of time online is spent on one of the many social networks -Facebook was ranked #1 as the most visited social network. The multiple studies in the recent months indicate that we are definitely becoming dependent on these sites -it is not only the 'women' who  are taking part even though studies constantly report that they are the majority that is most 'active' on these sites. Both men and women are flooding to these sites whether it is by computer or mobile app.

The Nielsen report also stated that social network app usage increased 30% over the past year. With Facebook's recent change, it is questionable on how large of an increase it will see over the next year. Although app usage increased, it does not mean that there are more users; more people are connecting to these networks in more ways, which includes the 'mobile app'. As always, Facebook and other similar networks are experiencing growth, but the data from online meters and other data show that the new users are not linked to the increase in mobile app usage.

Women supposedly watch many videos shorter in duration than men; men often view the longer videos. Nielsen did not release specifics on type of videos, but the 'cute' and 'fun' videos tend to be shorter while the longer videos are normally cuts from videos professionally made or long 'comedy' clips. Although video sites like YouTube are not entirely 'social', we can predict the path of social networking as leading to more 'watching' than 'reading'; we may post a video of us rather than posting a comment.

Although women are the most active users on most social networks, men are the majority of active users on LinkedIn. We cannot jump to conclusions, but perhaps this indicates that men are tapping into their virtual job networks more than women. Many employment agencies in the recent weeks released information stating that social networks are increasingly being used by companies to hire employees; perhaps this will lead to an overall increase in LinkedIn usage by women.

We must stop and think about our social networking habits -do we keep a browser of it open and click back to it often Are we really spending every 1 of 5 minutes using it If our usage is this high, how will this affect the future of the internet