Facehooked: British women are Europe's keenest users of social networking sites

Facehooked: British women are Europe's keenest users of social networking sites

By PAUL REVOIR - More by this author » Last updated at 08:58am on 12th December 2007 Comments

The site allows people to share pictures and information

British women are hooked on social networking sites like Facebook, spending more time on them than any of their European counterparts, new research has revealed.

The craze amongst females - which also encompasses similar websites MySpace and Bebo - means four in 10 UK adults are now visiting this type of site, putting us well above our European neighbours.

In addition, site users spend an average 5.3 hours a month on them. They also return to them on average 23 times over a four week period.

A new study by Ofcom has also revealed that amongst the 18-34 age group, women spend more time, 57 per cent of usage, on the internet than men.

An Ofcom spokesman said: "When it comes to the popularity of social networking sites - it seems that more women are using these sites in the UK than in other countries."

There are now a dazzling array of social networking sites available on the internet catering for all kinds of interests. But Facebook, Bebo and MySpace remain the most well known.

The idea behind the sites is that they allow people to build online networks for people who share the same interests.

They allow people to gossip, catch up with old friends, share holiday snaps and wedding pictures and organise parties and events.

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British women are hooked on social networking sites like Facebook

But there are growing privacy concerns that people are giving out too much personal information on the sites.

There are also concerns that the sites could leave young people at risk from sexual predators.

Employers are also taking an increasingly draconian line on Facebook and other sites.

More than 1,700 public employees have reportedly been sacked or disciplined for internet or email misuse in the last three years.

Unions have also admitted disputes about the sites have mushroomed.

Studies have shown that up to a £130million a day in productivity is lost because of them.

Ofcom's second report on the international communications market compares the UK with eleven other major countries.

The countries surveyed were the UK, the US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Canada. Data was also taken from Poland, Spain, Holland and Sweden as well as Ireland.

The research also showed that the UK has among the highest take-up of digital television in the world. Latest figures show that 84 per cent of all British households now have digital TV.

Take-up is higher than the US, Japan and major European countries like France, Germany and Italy.

People in the UK also listen to more radio than the all the other countries surveyed, on average listening to 21 hours a week.

One in five British adults also own a digital radio.

The report found that take-up of broadband has increased to half of all households by the end of 2006, putting the UK ahead of the US.

But Ofcom admitted it was in discussions with the Advertising Standards Authority over concerns that customers were being misled in retailers claims about broadband speeds.

It also revealed that advertisers in the UK spend more money per person on internet advertising than any other country.

The research claims this amounts to £33 per person, more than double that spent in France, Germany and Italy combined. It has even overtaken magazine advertising in the UK.

People in Britain spend more on television than their European neighbours spending on average £165 per year.