Twitter trumps Facebook as firms' favourite social media

Twitter has edged just ahead of Facebook to become British enterprises' favourite social network, research suggests.

Around 33% of social media-savvy businesses use Twitter, compared with 32% which have adopted Facebook, according to the Virgin Media poll of 5,000 firms.

MySpace came a close third, used by 29% of businesses, compared to 19% which use blogging, and 17% which produce and distribute video content via YouTube.

Nationally, the poll revealed London firmly led the trend for businesses making use of social media, with 47% of companies saying they had done so.

The South East was close behind at 44%, with the South West and Wales at 42%. The Midlands were level with the national average, while at 21% Northern Irish businesses were the least likely of all UK companies to employ social media.

Andrew McGrath, commercial executive director at Virgin Media Business, says: "While the research shows that different parts of the UK are responding to these opportunities at a different rate, it's clear to see that the rate of adoption shows no sign of slowing.

"As a medium television took 13 years to reach 50 million viewers, yet we've seen here that social media has penetrated a third of UK businesses in just a few years.

"British businesses have been quick to see the opportunities that lie within social media and are helping lead the world in targeting this new form of media."