A recent Nielsen report made an eyebrow-raising discovery about social network usage. The ratings company (famous for its weekly television rankings) found traffic to sites like Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn and Twitter rose a whopping 82% from the previous year. These statistics reflect a worldwide shift that found users spent an average of five hours a month with social media, where only three hours were spent a month during the previous year. While two added hours over the course of an entire month isn’t exactly a monstrous change, it does illuminate the medium’s rising popularity. One area where social media has jumped is as a platform for business. With CEOs, hiring managers and regular employees operating profiles, this increase in usage allows job seekers a better opportunity to make a valuable connection and possibly snag a job.

Patrick Roland, Feb. 1, 2010

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