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U.S. Lags In Web 2.0 Participation

  • Adweek, Monday, April 21, 2008 10:45 AM
Social media users in the U.S. are more passive than their counterparts in Asia and South America, according to a new study. Whereas American consumers enjoy sharing videos and reading blogs, those in emerging markets are more likely to create content on blogs, social networks and content sharing sites.

"By and large, in the U.S. we're a country of voyeurs," said David Cohen, U.S. director of digital communications at Interpublic Group's Universal McCann, which conducted the study. "We love to watch and consume content created by others, but there's a fairly small group that are doing that creation -- unlike China, which is a country of creators."

In the U.S., just 26% said they had created a blog, compared to more than 70% in South Korea and China. About a quarter of Americans have uploaded videos, compared to 68% in Brazil and more than 50% in India, China, Mexico and the Philippines. The U.S. also lags behind in social networking, where just 43% have joined at least one social network, while The Philippines, Hungary, Poland and Mexico all boast participation rates over 75%. The UM report was the third in a series tracking social media usage across the globe. Since the first survey, conducted in September 2006, consumers have significantly ramped up their usage of social media sites.

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