Quite a lot has been said about social networks and their spreading success. Indeed, many indicate them as an invaluable tool, if not the best one in the near future, to reach young consumers all over the world.

Well, it seems that those who were confiding in making social networks integral part of their brand communication effort will be disappointed.

In fact, recent studies have found that more than half of 13,000 consumers aged between 18 and 65 pooled worldwide (17 developed nations) do not know what social networking is.

If you find this surprising, you will probably also be interested to know that the survey found 36% of the respondents losing interest in the whole thing, with a 45% peak in the US.

But before pulling all your investments out of social networking assess first who you are trying to reach exactly. Teenagers have not been included in the survey and they seem to be still the bigger group of the population using and enjoying networking on the net. And there is still that other half of the people surveyed that could quite easily decide that social networking is the best thing ever. So keep your eyes open and listen to you audience voice as netizen are always on the lookout for new web experiences.