Infinite Path

Critics of social media have long been predicting a decline in the social networking sites that have boomed so dramatically over recent years. This year in particular, with the remarkable rise of Twitter, has seen those who remain cynical about the future of social media clap their hands in glee as they predict a fall in popularity as rapid and sudden as the rise.

However, it would seem that social media, rather than falling away in such a manner, is only becoming more popular, despite increasing fears over recent months about identity fraud, general security problems, and bad press surrounding the issue of Internet addiction in countries such as China.

New research has shown that almost twice as many British Internet users have one or more online profiles than this time two years ago. Furthermore, Facebook is now the most viewed website in the UK; remarkably, one in every seven page views in Britain is attributed to the site. It is thought that the continued success of websites such as Facebook owes a lot to older people becoming accustomed to using social networking sites, particularly to communicate with younger family members.

The report did uncover some alteration in online behaviour, however. The economic recession, as expected, seems to have taken its toll on Internet users, with people feeling more cautious about purchasing goods online. Unfortunately for online stores, the days of carefree purchasing over the Internet, where consumers didn’t think twice about making impulse buys, seem to be over for the moment.