Hitwise, an Internet usage data company, revealed on Tuesday that only 0.16% of YouTube users upload videos and only 0.2% of Flickr users upload photos. 4.6% of Wikipedia users edit articles.

This data, however, should be taken with caution. Ted Shelton, vice president of business development at Technorati argues that media executives should still have some concern, keeping an eye on new media trends. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, two percent of Internet users blog.

However, says Shelton, "Two percent of a billion people online is still 20 million people writing blogs on a regular basis. Those 20 million people are often closer to the subject then a journalist can ever be - they are domain experts, they live in the area, they are experiencing the event in real time.”

"So if I were a media exec, I wouldn't be worried about what is happening today," Shelton says. "But I would be very worried about the trends."

Media executives remain optimistic: the Accenture study also reports that 68% of respondents say they expect to make money from user-generated content within three years.

"This is just the beginning for a rapidly changing landscape where the media content environment grows more fractious and the user gains more control and power," said Gavin Mann, in charge of digital media for Accenture. "Traditional, established content providers will have to adapt and develop new business and monetization models in order to keep revenue streams flowing. The key to success will be identifying new forms of content that can complement their traditional strengths."

Source: Information Week