School is in full swing, so that can mean only one thing: It's time for reading, writing ... and social networking.
According to an October 2006 top 10 list from researcher Youth Trends, Facebook ranks as the favorite Website among males and females ages 17 to 25. More than half of females and 35% of males listed it as their favorite site, beating sites such as Google and ESPN.com, which topped Youth Trends' last survey in the second quarter of 2006.
The survey takes the pop culture pulse of the youth market by asking respondents, on an unaided basis, to list their three favorite choices in a variety of entertainment categories.
"For the first time ever, Facebook was ranked number one among both men and women," said Josh Weil of Youth Trends. "Based on the findings, Facebook is more than likely to be their first visit of the day."
The gender difference in favorite online activities is notable in the ranking of MySpace, which was second among females, but sixth among males.
The rise of online video sites is also evident: Since the last survey, YouTube has doubled in popularity among men. Among the sites new to the list: Wikipedia (eighth among men) and eBaumsWorld (10th among women).
The Youth Trends survey also asked young people to list their favorites in other media. Among the choices:
Favorite TV show, males: Family Guy (20%)
Favorite TV show, females: Grey's Anatomy (44%)
Favorite magazine, males: Sports Illustrated (25%)
Favorite magazine, females: Cosmopolitan (41%)
Favorite video or computer game, males: Madden NFL 2007 (35%)
Favorite video or computer game, females: Spider Solitaire (16%)