Balancing the 'Books

Young People are profiting from social networks.

Social networks are becoming an increasingly popular way for young people to make money, found a report by The Future Laboratory.

The research firm found that some 14% of users had already made money through the likes of Facebook, Bebo and MySpace. Selling jewellery and limited edition T-shirts and organising club nights were all ways of generating cash.

Also, social networks were found to be more popular than other forms of entertainment, with almost half (45%)of respondents preferring to spend a spare 15 minutes on social networks rather than watching TV, reading, talking on the phone or playing video games.

The research surveyed 1,000 social network users aged 18 to 24-years-old.