In the U.S., young people’s media usage is markedly different from that of older generations but is likely to converge with their elders as they themselves grow older, according to Nielsen SVP of Consumer Insights Dounia Turrill at today’s Consumer 360 conference in Las Vegas.

With a focus on how brands can listen and learn, Pete Blackshaw, EVP of Digital Strategic Services for Nielsen led a Consumer 360 insight session on the rapidly changing social media landscape.

Thanks to a goalkeeping blunder in the 40th minute, the United States escaped with a 1-1 draw versus England on Saturday. The player responsible for the mistake, England’s Robert Green, was not only pulled from relative obscurity into the social media spotlight, but his error has helped to fan the flames of World Cup fever in the US.

The world now knows a little more about Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer. She runs in Nike shoes, wears Covergirl mascara and her kids eat Cheerios.

From World Cup and beyond, George Bodenheimer, President ESPN, discussed the role of three screens in the evolving media landscape during Nielsen’s Consumer 360 conference.

The popularity of social media is undeniable as the world now spends over 110 billion minutes on social networks and blog sites – 22 percent of their time online.

Saturday’s USA-England game might have ended in a draw, but the game’s telecasts were the clear winners.

In May 2010, U.S. web surfers on average spent more than 54 hours online according to the latest statistics from The Nielsen Company.

The number of unique viewers of online video increased 1.6% year-over-year, from 133.7 million unique viewers in May 2009 to 135.9 million in May 2010.

As penetration of HDTVs, DVRs, broadband and smartphones increased at double- or even triple-digit rates during the last two years, viewing across all major media platforms continues to be fueled by the adoption of technologies that improve the consumer experience.