Via Fast Company: If you took a guess at what sites get all the traffic online, you’d might guess that Google searches and social networking suck all our time online, and the rest goes to shopping. Actually, no. To get a rough estimate of how the Internet is actually being used, the BBC charted the top 100 sites by unique users in January 2010, encompassing the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Brazil, U.S., and Australia.
There’s also a couple interesting breakdowns within the larger categories such as social media, retail and within specific countries. For social networking, Facebook dominates–no other profile-driven site is even close. As for shopping, the results are a lot more heterodox that you might think. Sure, eBay and Amazon comprise over 1/3 of traffic—but brick-and-mortar retailers Walmart, Target, and Best-Buy have a surprisingly large share of eyeballs. For a closer look at some of the infographics within other categories, head on over to Fast Company.