Washington - While 85% of Americans use the Internet or cell phones, and many also have broadband connections, digital cameras and video game systems, just 8% are creating user-generated content or participating in "Web 2.0" communities, according to a new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

The survey -- which excluded teenagers from its tally -- found that 73% of U.S. adults connect to the Internet; 37% use instant messaging; 41% have sent mobile text messages; and 19% have shared media such as photos or videos.

But just 8% of those surveyed were categorized as "Omnivores," or consumers who "have the most information gadgets and services, which they use voraciously to participate in cyberspace, express themselves online, and do a range of Web 2.0 activities."

"Some of this diffidence is driven by people's concerns about information overload; some is related to people's sense that their gadgets have more capacity than users can master; some is connected to people's sense that things like blogging and creating home-brew videos for YouTube is not for them; and some is rooted in people's inability to afford or their unwillingness to buy the gear that would bring them into the digital age," the report concluded.

Related Links:
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/140/press_release.asp