  A UK-based online questionnaire investigating aspects of usage of
user-generated media (UGM), such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, attracted
587 participants. Results show a high degree of engagement with social
networking media such as Facebook, and a significant engagement with other
media such as professional media, microblogs and blogs. Participants who
experience information overload are those who engage less frequently with the
media, rather than those who have fewer posts to read. Professional users show
different behaviours to social users. Microbloggers complain of information
overload to the greatest extent. Two thirds of Twitter-users have felt that
they receive too many posts, and over half of Twitter-users have felt the need
for a tool to filter out the irrelevant posts. Generally speaking, participants
express satisfaction with the media, though a significant minority express a
range of concerns including information overload and privacy.
