Source: Nielsen Q3 2011 Social Media Report, measuring top 10 online categories for U.S. Internet users

"Social media's popularity continues to grow, connecting people with just about everything they watch and buy," the study noted. "In the U.S., social networks and blogs reach nearly 80% of active U.S. Internet users and represent the majority of Americans' time online."

And while we're connecting and shopping online more and more, we're also doing so with our mobile devices. Nielsen noted that about 40% of social media users access sites from their .