79.8% of UK internet audience visited a social network in December

New research from comScore has revealed that 79.8% of the UK’s total internet audience visited a social networking site in December 2008.

Of the 282.7 million European internet users aged 15 and over who went online via a home or work computer in December, 211 million visited a social networking site – representing penetration of 74.6%, said comScore.

The report also found that of the 16 individual countries included in the study, social networking reach was relatively low in France, at 63.9%, compared with 73.7% in Spain.

Despite its relatively low penetration, France’s social networking audience (21.7 million visitors in December) was the third largest in Europe behind the UK (29.3 million) and Germany (24.9 million).

The IPA’s recent future of advertising report looked at social media and its likely impact on the ad industry, which it claimed could face just 1.2% growth per year by 2016 if agencies and clients fail to understand social networking and the ways in which it’s empowering the consumer (see IPA: Social Networking Revolution).

The report said that consumers will increasingly mediate messages between brands and other consumers in the social media arena, which could in effect diminish the power and influence of paid-for advertising.