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A study has concluded that casual gaming is the most popular online entertainment activity, with streaming video and social networking following behind.

There are all sorts of things you can do online and if you have ever wondered what most people do online for entertainment, you are not alone. From reading sites BBC, to watching videos on sites like YouTube or visiting social networking sites like FaceBook, what entertainment activity is most popular online? You might be surprised by the answer.

A study has concluded that the most popular online activity for entertainment is playing casual games. Thirty-four percent of U.S. adult Internet users play online games on a weekly basis, compared with 29% who watch short online videos and 19% who visit social networking sites with the same frequency.

“Despite the growing popularity of YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, gaming remains the king of online entertainment, driven largely by casual gaming activities,” said James Kuai, a research analyst at Parks Associates. “Gaming also has business advantages. Unlike sites for social networking and video streaming, which rely solely on advertising revenue, casual gaming has more mature and heterogeneous revenue models, including web-based and in-game advertising, try-before-you-buy, subscriptions, and micro-transactions.”

Streaming video is fast catching up to casual gaming as one of the most popular entertainment activities with a 123% year-over-year growth, which could perhaps be attributed to some less family friendly entertainment activities online.

Source: parkassociates