Facebook gaining on MySpace in US

MySpace is still the top dog among social networks in the US, according to researcher Hitwise, but its rival Facebook is number one in the UK and is gaining fast in the US.

In the UK, Facebook accounted for 45 per cent of the UK market share for social networks in June, a year-to-year rise of 188 per cent, according to a report released on Wednesday from Hitwise. Former leader Bebo.com was number two with a 25 percent share and MySpace ranked third with a nearly 15 per cent share.

MySpace attracted as much as 73 per cent of US visitor market share for social networks in June, down by 6 per cent from the same period last year. Facebook, its more staid social rival, lured about 17 per cent of the US market, up 40 per cent from June 2007.

It's still a wide margin, but Facebook's threat looms large. Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg emphasised this week that the company's primary goal is growth.

Hitwise reported a similar story in relation to time spent on social networks. In June, MySpace commanded the most time from its members, who spend an average of 31 minutes on the site, down by 4 per cent from the previous year. In contrast, Facebook members logged an average of 21 minutes, up by 41 per cent from the comparable period last year.