Facebookers spend fraction of time on games and apps; a giant niche?

Facebook users spend just 10 percent of their time playing with games or apps, according to a recent ComScore study. But aren't Facebook games expected to make the company $1 billion this year alone? Either something is missing from this equation, or Facebook gamers are the biggest niche in the history of niches.

However, this study takes all 750 million plus Facebook users into account, meaning the daily players for each game represent a much smaller demographic even within the 250 million gamers on the platform. (Though, the collective daily players still make up tens of millions of Facebook users.)

Are Facebook games something most players simply dabble in? When looking at this statistic, it sure seems that way. Social gamers could be even more casual than previously thought, barely considering themselves "gamers."

But no matter, companies like FarmVille maker Zynga and EA (who recently bought PopCap for potentially $1.3 billion) will continue to set records in the financial world, thanks to "whales." As long as these big spenders, which make up for just 1 to 3 percent of the Facebook gaming population, stick around so will Facebook gaming. If you look at some Facebook game studios like casinos without the immense upkeep costs, it's easy to see why Facebook games will be around for a long, long time.