Koreans Among Least Social in Online Networking

Korea may be the most wired country in the world, but Koreans have relatively few contacts on social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter, a study reveals.

According to the report "Digital Life" released on Sunday by British market researcher TNS, Koreans have an average of 50 friends in their social networks, ranking 44th among 46 countries studied.

TNS claims the report, which was compiled from interviews of nearly 50,000 people around the world, is the largest ever global study of people's online activities and behaviors.

Northeast Asian countries in general ranked low in activity on social network sites. Japan placed at the bottom with an average of 29 friends, while China was slightly higher than Korea with 60.

Malaysians topped the ranking as they spent an average of nine hours a week on social networking sites to manage ties with 233 friends. Brazil was the runner up with 231, and Norway third with 217.

The smaller number of friends among Korean, Chinese and Japanese users reflects an East Asian cultural preference for fewer but closer friendships, according to TNS.

E-mail was the leading online activity among Internet users worldwide, with 72 percent of respondents saying they access their e-mail everyday. Checking the news came in second with 55 percent, followed by social networking and visiting special interest websites with 46 percent each.