WebProNews

Over 36 percent of Internet users "highly trust" the information they receive from friends in their online social networks, according to a new social Internet survey from Faves.com

The survey found that 34 percent of respondents visit a social networking site at least weekly. That number climbs to 90 percent when you include those that moderately trust their social network contacts.

In contrast only 4 percent of people highly trust information from vendors or advertisers and the same number highly trust comments on blogs or forums, while 3 percent trust news communities such as del.icio.us or Reddit.

"People are interacting differently with the Web today, and as the survey results show, people trust their online social networks more than any other online resource," said Rob Dickerson, chief executive officer of Faves.com.

"Also today people are much more comfortable posting to the Web, whether it's expressing an opinion, uploading digital content, or adding a comment on a blog."

More than 70 percent said they frequently look to online product reviews, and another 62 percent rely on the popularity of information based on user's votes or ratings. "People are becoming more comfortable with the social aspects of the Web, particularly voting or rating content online and using other people's opinions and ratings to help them in their own research," said Dickerson.

Weekly 69 percent of respondents use the Internet to stay in touch with friends and family. Forty-eight percent use the Internet to stay informed about a favorite hobby and 53 percent to follow special interest.  While more people are using social networking for following topics they find interesting, just 25 percent said they felt the Internet met their needs when it came to following their favorite hobbies and 29 percent said the same in reference to following special interests.