Gartner produced some interesting information in December 2006 re: the current state of play within the Internet. 
(graphic from www.BusinessWeek.com) As you can see, although there is a lot of hype regarding social networking sites and music / video download sites and although they are growing rapidly. The vast number of users are still not adopting this technology. Why? Maybe they don't know they exist, don't know how to use them or don't understand their benefits? Or maybe they simply just don't care? What's also interesting is the types of users using these sites / applications. 
(graphic from www.BusinessWeek.com) The age of users on MySpace is on the up - i.e its not just the teenagers who are using it. Who would have thought that nearly 10% of MySpace users were in the 55+ category by watching the news and reading the trade press. So? This makes it all the more interesting. There's gold in them mountains 🙂 Today's teenagers are the people who have grown up in a world where the Internet has always existed. They are now so familiar with it that they are adopting new technologies and applications at a faster rate than anytime in the history of the Internet. But they only make up 33% of the total users. So what are they using it for? One reason is Relationships! Social Networks are key drivers in building, maintaining and empowering relationships. Think about it. Every time you want a builder to do some work around the home - you ask friends, family and colleagues for advice or recommendations. You want someone that you trust to do the work or to provide you with a name of someone they trust. And so on it goes. Referrals and word are mouth are the nirvana of advertising and marketing. And these sites are now starting to assist in these types of needs. In a couple of days time - I'll highlight a couple of social networking sites which are very useful for all sorts of things. thanks for reading Dean
The state of the Internet today.