Most People Are Just Watching the Web 2.0 Revolution

Posted on April 20, 2007

Excite Digital Edge blogs about a recent Hitwise study that found less than 1% of people create content for the leading Web 2.0 photo and video websites.

Research just out by Hitwise has indicated that although the number of people visiting web 2.0 inspired sites (think YouTube, Flickr etc) we're really a bunch of couch surfing voyeurs who are around to spy on what others are doing, rather than actively participating.
The data collected by Bill Tancer (analyst at Hitwise) showed that just 0.16 percent of visits to YouTube are from those creative people uploading their homegrown videos for the rest of the us to see. Which leaves a whole lot of us hanging around for the spectacle alone.
The research also identified the grand total sum of only "two-tenths of one percent" of visitors to Flickr that were actually uploading photos.

That's even less than the 1% rule that says just 1 out of every 100 visitors will create content. The low numbers could mean that video sharing and photoblogging have a lot of growth ahead of them. It should also be seen as good news for the creators that the majority of people are content to simply look at or watch the photos and videos they make. PC World also has an article about the Hitwise data called Web 2.0: What Participation?.

The contribution percentages are much higher for social networks. A post on Jupiter Research says that "nearly a third of online consumers have posted content to a social network."