Pew put our a short report on tagging. They found a surprisingly high degree of participation:

A December 2006 survey has found that 28% of internet users have tagged or categorized content online such as photos, news stories or blog posts. On a typical day online, 7% of internet users say they tag or categorize online content.

And here are tagger demographics (click to enlarge):

While tagging is associated with “early adopters” it will become increasingly mainstream. On a related note, I previously wrote about the evolving “culture of participation” (based on Harris data on user-generated content):

A Yahoo-Harris poll (from October, 2006), which I’ve written about at SEL, essentially confirms that “the culture of participation” is here to stay. Here are the questions and the findings:

“Are you more likely to post a rating or review of a local business if it is a positive review, a negative review, or are you equally likely to post a positive or a negative review?”

• Likely to post a review (net): 67%
• Negative review: 9%
• Positive review: 8%
• Equally likely to post a positive or a negative review: 50%
• I am not likely to post a review at all: 33%

“When it comes to deciding whether or not you will patronize a particular business, are you more likely to be influenced by a positive review, a negative review, or are you equally likely to be influenced by a positive or a negative review?”

• Likely to be influenced (net): 79%
• Positive review: 23%
• Negative review: 9%
• Equally likely to be influenced by a positive or a negative review: 47%
• I am not likely to be influenced by a review at all: 21%

And then there’s this from MarketingVox:

According to a Universal McCann study, reviewing products/giving feedback is the second-most popular web activity. Experts have long said endorsement or criticism of brands by a third party can influence shoppers’ behavior more directly than conventional, paid marketing.