A recent study commissioned and released by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) entitled Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World reveals some interesting facets of web user practices in the US, UK, Germany, France, Canada, and Japan. This study is primarily concerned with those sites, applications, and tools that enable sharing. These include social media sites (Flickr, Youtube) and social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, CyWorld).
The full report is available via the OCLC website here, but some highlights include:
– 89% of respondents have been online for four or more years, indicating an increasingly savvy user base
-the Internet’s readers are rapidly becoming its authors; there has been a significant increase in web creation
-nearly 25% of users participate in some sort of social media (Flickr, Youtube) or social networking site (Facebook or MySpace)
-Online trust increases with usage; 70% of social networking users indicate they trust those they communicate with
-users do not distinguish library websites as more private that other sites they are using.
The implications of this study are far reaching.
Perhaps most surprisingly is the role of geography in users’ approaches to social media and networking sites; those from Germany were much less likely to use these sites than those from the US. Users from Japan were much more likely to use SMS services than those from elsewhere. Interestingly enough, there was little or no differential between users from rural as opposed to urban areas.
I found this report to be a relatively interesting read as I was waiting to have the oil changed at the dealership. I have crossed the line into some sort of anti-cool just there, haven’t I?