A new study from Synovate reveals that well over half (58%) of those surveyed do not know what social networking is. Even more surprising, more than a third of those who do engage are losing interest in it.

"Of course this is a reflection of the wide age groups covered in our survey," said Steve Garton, Synovate global head of media research. "It's a different story if you only look at younger people."

The Chicago-based company spoke with more than 13,000 respondents ages 18-65 years in 17 markets around the world to find out who's connected and who's not. The Dutch were most likely to know the term social networking (89%), followed by the Japanese (71%) and Americans (70%).

Popularity of the phenomenon is fading amongst some, according to the study. When asked if they agree with the statement "I am losing interest in online social networking", 36% of social networkers globally said yes, led by Japan (55%), Slovakia (48%), Canada (47%), Poland and the U.S. (45%).

The Synovate survey also looked into who were members of social networking sites and which sites they belonged to. The biggest finding, according to the company, was that social networking is definitely not U.S.-centric. Overall, 26% of all respondents globally are members of social networking sites. This peaked with the Netherlands at 49%, United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 46%, Canada at 44% and the U.S. at 40%.

When respondents were asked to name the sites they belong to, it became clear that some markets favored multiple memberships while others seemed to stick to one or two major ones. The countries where social networking aficionados sign up for many sites are UAE, India, Indonesia, and Bulgaria. In the U,S., MySpace was the most popular social networking site (according to 65% of American respondents), followed by Facebook at 44%.

Just over half of social networking site members (51%), including 69% of Americans, agree that online social networking has its dangers. Lack of security for children is the biggest worry for Americans (62%), followed by lack of privacy at 23%.

Respondents also were asked whether they noticed site sponsors, ads and interactive profile pages. Overall, 53% notice site sponsors, with the greatest impact on those in the U.S. (where 66% notice), Serbia (65%), Russia and Germany (both 64%). In addition, two thirds of respondents globally -- and 71% of Americans -- say they notice advertisements for products while 31% globally notice interactive profile pages featuring brands.

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