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Conversations about how particular social networks may fail aren’t at all rare, but social networking as a whole is doing undeniably well.  A fresh report from Forrester Research indicates that the number of people who visit a network at least once a month has about doubled in the last two years.

Adam Ostrow writes, "Specifically, 55.6 million adults – or just less than 1/3rd of the population – in the US now visit social networks at least monthly . . . .  That’s up from just 15 percent of adults in 2007, and around 18 percent last year."  Which is a rather extreme rate of growth, especially considering the huge numbers involved.

This growth rate means that social networks are now, according to Forrester, more popular than instant messaging and Internet radio.  What Forrester calls "personal portal/ content" sites have fallen behind, too.

As for the future, Internet video and possibly even online shopping seem to be the next targets.

These findings go to show how profitable the monetization of social media may turn out to be.  Don’t be surprised if, despite the recession, investors find themselves giving Facebook and Twitter some extra consideration.

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