Web 2.0 in Switzerland: Slow but significant change

-- by guest blogger Marcel Bernet

Our firm Bernet PR has realized a study on the usage of Web 2.0-applications in Switzerland, together with the Center for Media Training. We asked the 200 largest Swiss corporations, public institutions and organizations about their usage of tools like blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS, user-generated content, online social platforms, and online monitoring. The full report (written in German) can be downloaded here. Here are the most surprising results:

• Swiss communicators open their websites for comments -- 24 % of the responding organizations say they implemented this function already; another 24 % plans it for the near future. Technically, this is of course a very easy thing to do. I was surprised that so many decision-makers seem to have allocated the necessary resources to manage comments and feedback and to react to it. (Well, that's what their answers say: I hope they did).
• Blogs are being read widely -- Two-thirds say they read blogs as a part of their work. Even accounting for "politically correct" answers (difficult to acknowledge that you ignore blogs or you don't know what they are these days) the widespread mention of blogs as a source of relevant information surprised me. The most read fall in five categories: specialized/trade blogs; news blogs; consumer blogs; political blogs; corporate blogs by the competitors.
• Wikis are gaining traction -- 13 % say they are using wikis, mostly for internal purposes. Another 13 % plans to do so within the next two years.
• Online monitoring is a fact -- Almost half of the respondents regularly scan the Web for relevant content. And 15 % said they plan it. I expected less, yet it is also true that 40 % said "no" and "not planned". Looks like a classical divide at the moment. Among those who perform monitoring, two-thirds do so daily, and 60% use internal resources.

Not so surprising:

• Blogs are not commented, not written, not contacted -- Only 15 % comment on blogs and 12 % write their own, most of them for internal purposes. Bloggers are almost never invited to media events or supplied with news.
• RSS is spreading very slowly -- 13 % use it to distribute content, vs 45% who still say they use e-mail.
• Social platforms and Second Life hardly acknowledged -- 5 % publish their links on platforms, 7 % their photos, 10 % their videos. And just 7 % have some kind of presence on Second Life; 92 % say "no" or "not planned".

So for the first time we know a little better what major Swiss corporations and organizations are really doing with Web 2.0. To me it looks very Swiss: have a close look at what is happening (monitoring), leave the playground to pioneers (social networking, Second Life), adapt items with high benefit and test them internally (blogs, wikis). Slow? I would speculate that it reflects what Swiss users are currently ready to accept. And at the same time I see a constant and significant change towards a wider and deeper conversation happening online.