A report released by social media consultancy Trendstream shows that between July 2009 and September 2010 the number of people taking part in real time social networks and microblogs grew 20%. The Trendstream report is part of the Global Web Index study which examined the online activities of 51,000 people.



The study also found that as participation in social networking websites increased, other online activities saw a decrease. Forum participation declined 11%, blogging fell 4% and the number of people engaging in online conversations decreased.

Social networking websites like Facebook and Microblogging sites like Twitter are growing at about the same pace, but social networks still account for most of the real time social web activity. The number of users in the Global Web Index study who said they updated their social network profile every day were twice the number that reported they updated their blog every day.

Only 29% of study participants said they had ever used a microblog, but more than half said they had ever updated their profile on a social networking website.