While Facebook, MySpace and Twitter grab the fast growth headlines in English-speaking markets, in France it is video sharing, rather than just blogging or messaging, sites, which are leading the way. The leader in the field is DailyMotion, and Strategy Analytics research indicates that four million people in France are uploading videos to video sharing websites on a weekly basis. There are still more people in France - 5.3 million – who are checking social network sites such as Facebook at least weekly. And 7.7 million people are using social network sites at least a few times a year. But the overall user base is higher for video sharing sites at 10.8 million. The contrast with the UK is stark. Here there are 15 million people – three times the number in France, with a similar population – checking social network sites at least weekly. And while 10.6 million people in the UK claim to upload videos to video sharing websites like Youtube at least a few times a year – similar to France - only 1.3m people in the UK do so at least weekly, a third of the level of activity in France. The early entry (in 2005) of Dailymotion to the French market is one obvious explanation for this difference. But I can’t help wondering if broadband connection speeds are also part of the story. Any UK broadband user who has tried to upload video will be familiar with the frustrations of slow upload speeds, which are typically well below 500Kbps. In France Free offers upload speeds of 1Mbps, which may not seem like a big difference but can halve the time spent uploading videos. Twitter: twitter.com/DavidMercer_SA Client Reading: Digital Media Survey: France Country Profile