Two thirds of all Internet users are members of online communities and the email has lost its popularity, according to a new study by Nielsen. The global social networking community accounts for 67 percent of all Internet users in 2008, compared to 61 percent in 2007. This is an increase of 5.4 percent in one year.

Nielsen studied the online habits of people from nine countries, revealing that the use of blogs and social networking sites has attracted more users than the mail. In fact, Facebook alone is visited by 3 out of every 10 Internet users.

The world has become the Facebook generation. People now communicate via their online personal pages, and Facebook is leading the race. This has been to the detriment of the old email which is now considered by many as outdated and wracked by spam.

Social network penetration was recorded to be highest in Brazil, with 80 percent of Internet users in the country now into social networking sites and blogs. The use of this type of application has grown steadily in Great Britain at 69 percent. In Britain, 23 percent of the population access Facebook and the like directly from the phone. The growth rate is highest in Germany, with a leap of 12.5 percent in terms of popularity of social networking.

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Via Telegraph.co.uk