Sillicon Alley Insider just released this insightful set of charts illustrating the “horrendous” drop in user engagement MySpace has experienced in the last 12 months.

Average Stay per Visit (in minutes, rounded up)

• MySpace: May 2008 = 20 min, May 2009 = 10 min!
• Facebook: May 2008 = 14 min, May 2009 = 16 min

Average Visits per Person:

• MySpace: May 2008 = 14,  May 2009 = 12
• Facebook: May 2008 = 11,  May 2009 = 16

It seems the latest Google News on MySpace isn’t too positive either. Here are a few of the top headlines:

• MySpace Fires 30% of US Workers as Ad Sales Decline (Bloomberg)
• More Americans Go to Facebook than MySpace (PC Mag)
• Facebook Dethrones MySpace in the US (LA Times)

To think it seems like yesterday when Facebook usership was growing in leaps and bounds here in Canada but my extended American family were saying “Facebook?” and touting MySpace with all of the gusto of a tornado.