Feb 3, 2009

Across the Web, social networking sites experienced a 13 percent gain in U.S. audience from December 2007 to December 2008, according to data from comScore . While not at the very top of the rankings, the sites with the greatest gains include AOL Community and SodaHead.com. Here are the top social networking sites tracked by comScore for December 2008.

Top Social Networking Sites by Unique Visitors, December 2008 
                                                      

                                                        2007                                   2008                     
Total Internet audience       183,619,000                    190,650,000    4 (%)
Social networking audience 120,201,000                  135,715,000   13 (%)

Types                              2007(‘000)        2008(‘000)       % change                           
MySpace.com             68,905                  75,919                  10
Facebook                      34,658                   54,552                  57
Flickr                              13,540                   20,698                  53
Classmates Online     10,002                  16,553                   66
MyLife.com**             N/A                        15,018                   N/A
Buzznet                         4,973                        9,781                   97
AOL Community             40                        9,208            22,701
Yahoo Buzz                 4,864                        8,724                     79
AIM Profiles               2,587                        8,618                    233
Webs.com                      N/A                         8,053                   N/A
Digg                               6,026                         6,844                       14
LinkedIn                      2,868                        6,323                     120
imeem                             N/A                        6,003                     N/A
Tagged.com                1,156                       5,778                      400
Yahoo Groups          6,447                        5,620                        -13
Webshots                    6,625                        5,216                        -21
DeviantART               4,102                        4,905                         20
Bebo                              4,279                       4,867                          14
hi5                                  2,483                       4,047                         63
Windows Live Sp      8,912                        3,846                        -57
Scribd.com                 1,613                        3,054                          89
BlackPlanet.com       1,919                        2,871                          50
CafeMom.com           1,287                         2,796                       117
Sodahead.com              166                          2,291                   1,277

Notes:
1. ComScore audience measurement data report n media usage, visitor demographics, and online buying power for home, work, and university audiences across U.S. and worldwide Internet auciences.
2. Data excludes blogging sites.
**MyLife used to be known as Reunion.com

Source: comScore, 2009