Surprisingly, Women's Purchases Largely Uninfluenced by Social Networks

• 75% of women say they are "more active" in social networking than last year, and more than half (54%) report visiting social networking sites at least once per day. Nearly 31% say they visit weekly, and 7% say monthly.

• The social network most used by women is Facebook--nearly two-thirds of women say they use it most--followed by the nearly 16% who cite MySpace. About 3% report using Twitter the most.

• 75% of women say social networking sites "not really" (38%) or "not at all" (37%) influence what they buy. Still, about 22% report that social networking sites "somewhat" influence what they buy, and some 3% report being "greatly" influenced.

• Though 83% of women feel either "neutral" (64%) or "negative" (19%) when they see a brand on a social networking site, and only 17% say they feel "positive," 52% of women surveyed have "befriended" or "become a fan of" at least one brand.

• Asked what they do most on social networking sites, 10% of women say they engage in product/brand-related activities ("get product information, including coupons and savings" and "writing reviews about products").

• Sending private messages, cited by nearly 35% of women, is the activity women engage in most on social networking sites, followed by sharing photos and chatting/sending instant messages (roughly 13% eacj).

As for where social networks figure in women's online activity overall, the study found as follows:

• Checking/updating their status on social networking sites is third on the list of what they do online, with more than 12% of women saying so.

• Checking email (33%) and (23%) looking for coupons and savings are first and second.

• Shopping is third (12%), followed by playing games (10%)

Where have women found the time to become so engaged in social media? Apparently by reducing time with other media:

• Some 46% say they now spend less time watching TV as a result of spending time on social networking sites.

• Next to suffer is reading books (24%) and reading magazines (23%), followed by watching movies, listening to the radio, and reading the newspaper (each cited by roughly 17-19%).

The survey also asked women about the most important factor in making purchase decisions: Price was cited 47%, and quality was cited by 46%. Brand was fourth at 2% ("other" was third at less than 4%).