Any Aussie who frantically clicks away from Facebook when the boss is walking by and insists that he is just taking a peek is lying. With Australia coming in third highest in a table of average time spent on Facebook per session across 8 countries, we are certainly doing more than just sneaking in a quick look. In fact, according to a study on the use of social media, Australians spend an average of 26 mins and 27 seconds browsing each time they log into Facebook.

Conducted by information services company Experian, the study, which examined social media behaviour in Australia against seven other countries across the world, also found that while Australia only lags behind Singapore and New Zealand in terms of time spent on Facebook, the number of visits to the social media platform is actually decreasing.

While it remains the most popular site with a 51.8% share of visits among all social network channels, visits to the site have dropped by 5.09% in the last year. YouTube, on the other hand, has increased its visit share in the Australian market by 6.58% in the past year, growing from 14.91% in August 2010 to 21.49% a year later.

Matt Glasner, general manager of Experian Marketing Services says: “The study shows that whilst Facebook continues to be the most widely used network in Australia, brands should not underestimate the importance of YouTube in deeply engaging with their audience. With video advertising set to become an even more popular channel for brands in Australia, they need to develop an understanding of how they can capture the active YouTube market to deliver content in an effective way.”