New York — On the eve of Christmas, hordes of internet surfers joined the social networking site such as Facebook and Google ahead of watching the Queen’s speech, according to research data. Figures revealed that one in 22 website viewings in Britain on 25 December were of the site.
On December 24, social networking site Facebook began to increase most of its traffic ever within the United States, between 2-3pm — the hour before Her Majesty’s speech was broadcast, according to new data from Hitwise. And by 5pm it had peaked by 25 percent as broadband Britons contacted their friends and family. That tops Facebook’s previous record, which was set in July.
According to ISP Plusnet, and Web Analyst Firm Hitwise providing details that show that Google continued to be the unquestionable champion when it came to UK internet traffic over the Christmas period, followed by Facebook and the BBC.
However, it still came in second in terms of total visitors to Google, while online retail sites were also popular.
“The study is a good example of how the web is changing the face of the traditional Christmas as more people go online for their fun, information and entertainment,” said Neil Armstrong, Plusnet’s products director.
Plusnet disclosed that Facebook traffic soared on the 25th in late afternoon as people flocked to the website to upload photos and check their friends’ statuses.
“People were very busy staying in touch with friends and family during the afternoon but their attention turned to seasonal bargains later in the evening with more logging onto the shopping sites,” said Armstrong.
The survey also highlighted the success of shopping websites like Amazon, Argos and Play.com which had already started their sales online before the Boxing Day.
eBay was also amongst the stars as people tried to offload their unwanted gifts or grab a great bargain while iTunes was amongst the most popular websites as punters either spent their gift vouchers or went to download the Christmas number one.
According to Hitwise’s blog post reporting the figures, analyst Heather Hopkins gives three possible explanations — crummy weather, boredom, and the urge to send holiday greetings to your friends. The last account was most likely the main reason, she says, since Christmas Day last year also set a traffic record. The weather probably contributed too, since the cities with the most Facebook traffic (New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.) were all hit by snowstorms.
As for Hitwise, their data revealed that Google is the uncontested number one with more than 8.63 percent of the Christmas traffic, far more than Facebook’s 4.65 percent.
Other social networking sites such as MySpace and Bebo also had massive rises in traffic, with social networking sites accounting for one in 10 UK internet visits during Christmas week.
Google’s other online property Youtube also saw a big rise in traffic, being the third most visited site after Google and Facebook and has overtaken Microsoft Live Mail, commonly known as Hotmail.