Americans Most "Web-Friendly" Culture

- US "friendliest" on the Web compared to British, Germans, French and Spanish

August 29, 2008; 12:59 AM

Americans use the web more effectively to gain friends than Europeans, according to new research released today by 1&1 Internet, the world’s largest web host. Some 53 percent of Americans have made at least one friend online. In comparison, Germans are the second ‘Web-friendly,’ with 51 percent gaining a friend online, followed by France and Spain, with less than half (47 and 42 percent, respectively) and lastly, the British with only 16 percent making a friend online. The study of 5000 consumers[1] also found that Americans are the most critical —with 76 percent admitting to quickly judging others solely based on online material (photos, blog entries, resumes, Facebook profiles), while only 46 percent of Britons and Germans (74 percent) admit to quickly judging online. 

The ‘1&1 Online Attitudes Study’ found that 76 percent of Americans believe you can make a reliable overall assessment of a person online. There was a clear difference between Europe and the US on the issue. In the UK, only 46 percent of the public believe you can make a clear overall assessment of a person online. Similarly, only 57 percent of Spanish, 54 percent of French and 43 percent of Germans agreed that it is not possible to judge an individual from their online material alone. 

Oliver Mauss, CEO 1&1 Internet Inc, said, “It appears that Americans are leading the pack in using the Internet for social purposes. Based on the Americans’ success in achieving friends via the web, a person’s online identity may be a reliable way to make an evaluation for a relationship. Therefore, it is highly recommended to use a controllable way to display personal material online for accurate representation, such as with a personal website.” 

Reflecting the degree to which Americans judge each other online, the US public is more concerned over the issue of their own personal online identity than Europeans. 77 percent of Americans admit to having concerns about how they may appear online, compared to half of Britons (49 percent), 45 percent of Germans, 44 percent of French and only 38 percent of Spanish. The research suggests that the more seriously a nation takes personal online material, the more success its residents enjoy in establishing meaningful online relationships.

1&1 Internet, the world’s largest web host by known servers provides a one-stop-shop for web solutions.  1&1 offers a full range of domain names, feature-rich web hosting, servers and ecommerce products.  

For more information on 1&1 Internet Inc. visit the website at www.1and1.com

About 1&1 Internet Inc.: 1&1 Internet Inc. is a subsidiary of United Internet, a profitable public company with a market cap of $5 billion. 1&1 was founded in 1988 and hosts more than 10 million domain names, while more than 55,000 servers run in the company’s five state-of-the-art data centers. 1&1’s global community is over 7 million customer contracts strong. The company’s U.S. headquarters is located in Chesterbrook, PA. For more information, please contact the company at www.1and1.com or 1-877-461-2631.   ### For 1&1 Internet Inc.:   Ann Marie Tropiano 1&1 Internet Inc. Phone: 1-877-GO-1AND1 Fax: 610-560-1511 [email protected]