Whose taking advantage of Web 2.0 apps?

One measuring stick for whether internet users are making the shift from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 is whether they have transitioned from being an “audience member” (reading news online, watching videos, etc.) to a “participant” (commenting on news stories, posting content on Facebook, blogging, etc.). The common wisdom is that it’s only high-income, mostly male, technophiles who are taking advantage of Web 2.0 tools. Well, not necessarily. According to the Pew Center:

• Broadband users living in households earning under $50,000 a year are more likely than those in higher-income homes to say they put content online – by a 46% to 41% margin. When the Pew Center first asked this question in 2002, a “broadband elite” of mostly male techies were responsible for the majority of the activity. [Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project]

This will be an fascinating metric to watch…