Networking obsessives click for cash.

Far from being a way of “wasting the work day”, social networks may in fact provide a means of generating income for small businesses and sole traders, if the collective experiences of artists and musicians are anything to go by.

A report, “MySpace08″ prepared by The Future Laboratory, found that in the UK three million people made some sort of money by way of their social network page.

The report says: ‘MySpace has been the incubator of teen and twentysomething “culturepreneurs”, a new generation of business-minded culture obsessives who generate income from arty pursuits - club nights, fanzines, handmade jewellery, street theatre, stand-up, indie clothing lines, films, street art, DVDs - that have previously been notoriously poor sources of revenue.’

People weren’t solely into social networking for the money though, and the report also found that “2.3 million people have found love” thanks to the likes of MySpace et al.

Don’t ever let me hear you saying social networking is a waste of time again…