Web 2.0 use increases in the U.S.

American web surfers are more likely than ever to surf to web 2.0 portals like Wikipedia, MySpace and YouTube. That, according to research released earlier this month. According to the research, web 2.0 portals accounted for 12% of all traffic in the United States.

by Kristina Knight

This is an increase of 2% over 2005 numbers; meanwhile, the market share of those web visits have increased an astronomical 688%.

“Web 2.0 websites like YouTube, Flickr and Wikipedia have achieved mainstream adoption for visits to their website”, said Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise. “It’s the participatory aspect of Web 2.0 that is still in a very nascent stage. When online participation goes mainstream we can expect an explosion of new content on the web.”

According to the study, Wikipedia is a favorite educational destination with a 26% market share. The site blew away competitor Encarta with a 3400 to 1 visits ranking.

For video sharing, YouTube ranked number one. The 18-24 age group was the largest demographic to watch online video, but the 35-44 demographic was the most likely to upload a video.

With more users headed to social outlets like these Web 2.0 portals, it is clear that advertisers need to embrace social marketing as never before. With two of the most important demographics using online video and interactive websites, advertising or creating branded personal pages is a way to convert casual browsers to buyers.