Who's in the in-crowd?

If you don't know what social networking is, chances are you're not a member of a site! Synovate looked into who were members of sites, or not, and which sites they belonged to. Perhaps the biggest out-take here is the debunking of myth number two. Social networking is definitely not US-centric.

Overall, 26% across the markets surveyed are members of social networking sites. This peaked with the Netherlands at 49%, United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 46%, Canada at 44% and the US at 40% (though keep in mind that's 40% of a huge population).

Synovate's Managing Director for the UAE, George Christodoulides, says: "The popularity in the UAE makes sense. It is a place that's very connected to the world; a hub for cultures, business and people."

"These sites also offer a way for people to meet – online – in a society where traditionally men and women don't always mix freely."

Rob Myers, Managing Director of Synovate in Canada, says: "Canada has a very high level of broadband penetration... higher than the US, so social networking can be done efficiently. Given this we are usually early adopters of all things web. At the end of 2007, Toronto claimed more Facebook members than any city in the world and they were not all young students."

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> Let's start at the very beginning... (it's a very good place to start)

> Sites of choice

> Privacy and predators

> Poking around social media attitudes

> Is social media a marketing dream?