Nielsen has just published “Global Faces and Networked Places” a report  on the momentous rise of social networking. Describing the trend as “the global consumer phenomenon of 2008″, it highlights how two-thirds of the world’s internet population now visit a social network or blogging site.

The report is stuffed full of interesting stats. One in particular caught our attention. Many think that social networking is the preserve of the young, and yet:

“Facebook’s greatest growth in global audience numbers has come from people aged 35-49… now almost one third of its global audience is aged 35-49 years of age and almost one quarter is over 50 years old.  In the UK, for example, if the average month-on-month audience changes over the last six months were to continue; by mid-June 2009 there would be as many 35-49 year olds on Facebook as 18-34 year olds.”

If you want to find out more, You can download the report in PDF here.