Which country likes social media the most and where is it considered to be dangerous? The European Commission published a study about social media in different countries of the European Union. According to the data presented below internet users in Poland, Latvia, Slovakia and Hungary seem to be the most enthusiastic about social sites. For instance 80% of Hungarian internet users find these applications useful and exciting, while in Germany, France or Italy these percentages are a lot lower.

A research conducted in 2010 suggests that in some countries the declining popularity of social networking sites is in connection with the fear of misuse of personal data. The map below supports this assumption: countries with fewer people using social sites have a higher percentages of social networkers who don’t feel that their personal data is safe online. While in Hungary only 39% of users on social sites are concerned about data safety, in Germany a higher rate of social networkers worry about their personal data (58%).

It would be interesting to see how concern or the lack of fear influences the activity of internet users on social media sites. Would they be more careful with sharing information in Italy than in Poland? And if not, is it possible that the numbers represent bad experiences about security breaches?

(Source: The Economist)