Australia Leads World in Average Time Spent per Person on Social Media Sites

Still not taking social media seriously as a significant contender for consumer attention?

A recent Nielsen survey reports that Australia led the world in average time spent per person on social media sites in December 2009.

When narrowed by individual country, with 142.1 million unique visitors the United States had the largest number of social media and blog users in December, followed by Japan, which had 46.6 million unique visitors during the month. Australia led in average time per person spent, with the average Australian spending nearly 7 hours on social media sites in December. The United States and the United Kingdom came in a close second and third, with 6 hours and 9 minutes and 6 hours and 8 minutes, respectively.

Almost seven hours per person per month spent on social media. That’s a lot. Especially when you consider another Nielsen survey in 2009 revealed that long-established traditional media like newspapers and magazines are only gaining our attention for an average of 8 to 12 hours per month.

Australian’s now spend an average of 16.1 hours per week online and 3.7 hours per week on mobiles. The booming smartphone and about-to-explode iPad market will only see our online engagement continue to climb.

Once again, the question is….does your marketing reflect the new hierarchy of media consumption or are you still casting your bait where the fish no longer bite?