Home › News › The Web
Facebook named third most popular video website behind YouTube and Hulu
If you needed any more proof of just how large and important social networking has become, the following bit of news should convince you. When you think of online video, sites like YouTube and Hulu probably come to mind, but you should add Facebook to that list. The social networking giant is ranked number three for video streams worldwide, according to research by Nielsen.
The firm looked at statistics for various video sites in October, and YouTube came out as the top provider. They had a monumental 6.6 billion streams delivered, which put their closest competitor to shame -- Hulu netted around 632 million streams. Surprisingly, however, the number three spot went to Facebook, who served 217 million videos. Further, Nielsen found that the amount of time actually spent on Facebook for the purpose of viewing videos increased a massive 1,840% over the past year. That surpassed the growth in online video viewing as a whole, which roughly doubled.
The speculation is that Facebook has evolved beyond social networking, and is instead morphing into a media hub. Nielsen may be right, and with hundreds of millions of subscribers already, Facebook has the userbase to try nearly any service they want.
The firm looked at statistics for various video sites in October, and YouTube came out as the top provider. They had a monumental 6.6 billion streams delivered, which put their closest competitor to shame -- Hulu netted around 632 million streams. Surprisingly, however, the number three spot went to Facebook, who served 217 million videos. Further, Nielsen found that the amount of time actually spent on Facebook for the purpose of viewing videos increased a massive 1,840% over the past year. That surpassed the growth in online video viewing as a whole, which roughly doubled.
The speculation is that Facebook has evolved beyond social networking, and is instead morphing into a media hub. Nielsen may be right, and with hundreds of millions of subscribers already, Facebook has the userbase to try nearly any service they want.
User Comments (5)
Post a comment|
Teklord on November 20, 2009 5:54 PM |
I love Facebook although it isn't my first choice for streaming content. |
|
windmill007 on November 21, 2009 6:53 AM |
Humm there are video's on Facebook? You learn something new every day. |
|
Guest on November 22, 2009 9:32 PM |
Yes but most of the vids are linked from Youtube anyway. Big deal. I wish people would spend a bit less time there and join the rest of us on the other 95% of the interenet. There's a whole world of stuff going on that they don't get to see because they're too busy doing quizzes. |
|
xclusiveitalian on November 22, 2009 9:38 PM |
If hulu starts charging for TV people already have and it isn't free anymore they'll lose 632 million users! Youtube will probably remain on top for a long time, facebook's popularity is growing but just like myspace another will come along and facebook will lose its popularity. |
|
WakeMO on December 2, 2009 1:04 PM |
Facebook and Youtube should have a baby, then that would be the ultimate website |
Most Popular
| Trending | Featured |
-
Chrome 17 released with "instant" browsing, improved security
-
Windows 8 Consumer Preview coming Feb. 29, bundled apps leaked
-
Apple sued for $1.6 billion for using "iPad" in China, apology requested
-
Digital game purchases: do we really "own" them?
-
Intel Core i7-3820 Review: Sandy Bridge-E for the masses