The Web 2.0 Expo conference took place in San Francisco this week, bringing together all the supporters and developers of the latest buzz-phrase on the internet to debate its future.

But much of the coverage of the event has focused on a study by web traffic measurement firm Hitwise which suggests that Web 2.0 is not - yet - all it is cracked up to be.

Web 2.0 fans say that sites such as MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and others demonstrate the desire for participating in online communities. But Hitwise suggests otherwise.

While visits to Web 2.0 sites have grown 668 per cent in two years, only a tiny minority actually contribute content to those sites - most preferring simply to browse.

Hitwise says just 0.2 per cent of visits to photo sharing site Flickr involve uploading photos. And only 0.16 per cent of YouTube users actually contribute videos.

In the light of such statistics, it seems almost foolhardy to say this - but what do you think? If you don't like to contribute to Web 2.0 sites, then why not break the habit of a lifetime and tell us why by clicking on the 'Post your comment' link below.

For more on the Hitwise research, read the Reuters article here: Participation on Web 2.0 sites remains weak