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Visits to social networking websites climbed 11.5
percent in February with big surges in popularity seen in smaller
players such as Buzznet and iMeem, Hitwise research revealed on
Wednesday.
Online traffic to MySpace, which claims the lion's share social
networking visits, rose 10.2 percent in February as compared to
January while second-place Facebook visits climbed 9.1 percent,
according to Hitwise.
Meanwhile, visits to the photo and journal sharing website Buzznet
and to iMeem website where users share blogs, pictures, video and
audio more than doubled, Hitwise reported.
MySpace got 80 percent of social networking visits while iMeem and
Buzznet each had less than one percent of the overall total for the
month.
Facebook was the second most popular online social website with 10
percent of the visits, according to Hitwise.
"While MySpace is still by far the dominant social networking
website, sites like Buzznet and iMeem are succeeding in building
communities around music and other media," said Hitwise
research director LeeAnn Prescott.
"The social networking category will continue to grow as new
sites emerge with unique offerings."
The February results signal the growing popularity of startups such
as iMeem, launched in 2004, and Buzznet, launched in 2003, but that
they still have "a mountain to climb" to surpass MySpace,
Hitwise said.
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