Facebook and Twitter are considered the easiest to use social networking sites but a substantial number of Internet users feel that no social networking sites are easy to use, according to new findings released today.
The social network usability poll, carried out by user experience consultancy, Webcredible, revealed that 50 per cent of respondents considered Facebook the easiest-to-use social network in a result that perhaps represents the popularity of Facebook rather than its actual user experience.
Twitter was considered the second easiest-to-use social network with 19 per cent of the vote, while LinkedIn, MySpace, Friends Reunited and Bebo all received five per cent or less. The results very much reflect the popularity of the social networks which comes as no surprise, as the more people use a website, the easier they will find it to use.
The research also revealed that 12 per cent of respondents felt that none of the social networks were easy to use largely because some of the features of these sites are considered inaccessible and unintuitive.
The research polled more than 1,100 online users between December 2009 and March 2010 on which social networking site they find easiest to use.
Five per cent of respondents felt LinkedIn was easiest to use, four per cent went for MySpace, with Bebo and Friends Reunited getting just one percent each. In addition, seven per cent of respondents identified other social networks as the easiest to use. Those identified included Tagged, Orkut, and MyNetFriends.
"It's really no surprise that these results heavily reflect the popularity of the social networks in question,” said Director at Webcredible, Trenton Moss.
“When it comes to usability, social networks are a different proposition to other sites where you access with one clear goal in mind, for example, making a purchase on an ecommerce site. The difference with social networks is that the sites themselves are a pass-time, so users can and are happy to learn how to use them properly, where on other sites they wouldn't be prepared to take the time.
He added, "Now with over 400 million users, Facebook is the most used social network in the world. Its users have learnt to use it and they use it a lot, hence they consider it easy to use. If someone who had never used a social networking site before were to use these sites for the first time and then compare the usability, the results may not come out the same."