Everyone remembers the days when email was the thing. It was a huge step forward in how people communicate. Instead of writing a letter, paying for postage and waiting a few days for the letter to go through, people could send their missives near-instantaneously.

Email marketing was the thing then, and is still a significant force. Companies, in the beginning, realized that they had a new avenue for customers, and would send emails with the idea of enhancing their relationships. It’s ubiquitous now. You can’t hardly sign up for a service without the offer for a free newsletter emailed directly to you.

But the times have changed. The Nielsen Company released a study on Monday that says social media and online gaming take up the most time. And it’s on the rise – Americans spent 43% more time on social media than they did at the same time last year. It’s a 22.7% portion of the total amount of time spent online. And, in fact, this increase in time with social media has led to a decrease in time spent on email and instant messaging.

The data states – based upon the surfing habits of 220,000 Americans – that, all told, people spend about 36% of their time total not just on social media but on older technologies as well. This in turn benefits newer technologies too. Online games, such as Farmville and Mafia Wars, are part of the second most heavily used medium, after social networks.

No social media marketing plan can be complete without this. Using games can produce an amazing windfall. Consider Cascadian Farm. The food producer managed to arrange to have its organic blueberries appear as part of the Farmville game. More than a million people have planted 310 million crops of this plant. It’s gotten to the point where the company has too many Facebook friends – the system’s limits have been pushed.

Time spent on all the older technologies is in decline. Emails, web portals and instant messaging are all seeing less use.

The web portals represent something significant. These are the big online names – Yahoo, AOL – seeing one fifth less use from a year ago.

Still, this is hardly the time to predict the end. Mobile devices still present a lot of traditional use, meaning email and web portals still have something to offer there. Mobile marketing efforts need to note this – if you want to reach mobile users, email is still a viable way to do it.

Though, keep in mind, social networking is on the upswing there too.

So what does the data mean for you?

It means that the market is changing. That’s not surprising. And if you’ve been paying attention, you should have seen this coming. The social network is gaining ground, and it doesn’t seem that it will be slowing down any time soon. It’s not an easy thing; it comes with a lot of complications. Apps, Twitter accounts, ongoing conversations with the clientele.

It’s tricky. Potentially overwhelming.

But this is where the market is going. If you want your services to be relevant, you have to go with it.