Young India simply loves social networking

Tech-savvy Indian youths in major cities are spending at least two hours a day to connect themselves with others through social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and Orkut, a new survey has found.

The "Social Media" survey by Indiabiz News & Research Services (INRS) also found that about 30 per cent of the youths access networking sites from their mobile phones rather than sitting before computers, an indication of how the generation next is taking advantage of the ever-converging technology and communication space.

Among the popular social networking sites, Facebook emerged as the most sought-after website for the youths, while LinkedIn is the second most popular site, according to the survey conducted in major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore.

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When asked about their favourite networking site, majority of the youths preferred Facebook while about 45.8 per cent voted in favour of LinkedIn, over 36 per cent voted for video-sharing website YouTube and 29.6 per cent said they liked Twitter.

The study attributed the growing popularity of LinkedIn to business networking.

It found that about 37 per cent of the respondents fall in the age group of 26-30 years and almost 35 per cent of them are professionals with mid-level jobs.

"Perhaps, that explains the importance of LinkedIn, a business networking platform that helps its users in establishing contacts and connections related to jobs and business opportunity." the INRS survey said.

However, the popularity of micro-blogging site Twitter seems to be limited to celebrities -- mostly from the film and entertainment industry.

According to a recent study by audience traffic and demographics research firm Vizisense, Facebook has around eight million users in India, while professional networking site LinkedIn boasts a subscriber base of six million in the country.

Another similar study by research firm Nielsen had claimed that about 70 per cent of social media users in India identify Orkut as their preferred social media site although Facebook and Twitter are experiencing exponential growth in India.

While social networking sites are blamed for bullying and online abuse of teenage users, the INRS survey found that most of the users seem to decide things on their own and do not follow trends per se.

The report said: "About 63 per cent of those who took the poll have never engaged with Communities, Groups and Fan pages on networking sites.

"Among these, more than half join on their own will and a minuscule (11 per cent) would only follow brand endorsements by their friends and only 15 per cent said they trust the information provided."

"Despite the efforts of companies trying to push their brands in the social media space, nearly half of the respondents do not associate themselves with any brand or product."

Even as more and more people are joining the online networking space for professional reasons, the most dominant reason to join the club is to stay in touch with friends.

Almost 90 per cent of the users join such sites to follow or stay in touch with their friends, while nearly 80 per cent follow their friends for their pictures.

A large number of users (45 per cent) are reading or writing blogs to express ideas and opinions.

The study found that almost 70 per cent of bloggers spend at least half-an-hour daily -- mostly for gaining information.

The top five categories of blogs are entertainment, current affairs, personal, fashion and technology.