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"Social networking is now a &amp;quot;global phenomenon&amp;quot; as more than three quarters of consumers worldwide have visited sites such as Facebook and Twitter, with the majority doing so every day, a new report by Ofcom has revealed.  According to Ofcom&amp;#039;s sixth International Communications Market report, global usage of social media sites was much higher among 18-24-year-olds, with eight in ten (83%) visiting them on a daily basis.  Italy was found to have the most ravenous appetite for social networking, with 91% of the population having ever visited the services, and a quarter doing so every day. In the UK, 79% of people have ever visited a social media site, but only one in five use the likes of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn every day.  British consumers were found to be most likely to access social networks on their mobile phones, at 43%, followed by 30% in the US. However, Brits had the fewest friends online, at an average of 168, far behind the Americans (198) and Italians (216) - but more than the French (108) and Germans (137). Interestingly, consumers are increasingly using social media sites to access breaking news, with one-third (35%) of UK users doing so, and nearly half of French (45%) and Italians (47%). Breaking news on social networks was found to be more popular among 18-24-year-olds in all countries, suggesting a generational shift in news consumption.  &amp;gt; Osama Bin Laden, Charlie Sheen among top Facebook memes of 2011 &amp;gt; Charlie Sheen, Arab Spring most popular 2011 Twitter hashtags of 2011 Elsewhere in Ofcom&amp;#039;s report, the regulator said that UK consumers are getting a favourable deal for their communication services compared with other countries.  After analysing a typical &amp;#039;basket&amp;#039; of communications services (landline, mobile phone, broadband and pay-TV) for five household types, Ofcom found that the UK offered the lowest prices across all baskets compared with France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US based on buying services individually.  Britain also offered four of the five cheapest baskets when including multi-service &amp;#039;bundles&amp;#039; of multiple services. Overall, the price of mobile phone services in the UK was 36% lower than in the next cheapest country, France, and was 10% lower than the previous year.  However, the price for &amp;quot;low-use&amp;quot; mobile phone services, such as pay as you go, in the UK increased between July 2010 and July 2011, but it was also up in France, Germany and Italy. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/media/news/a355939/social-networking-now-global-phenomenon-says-ofcom/>