Social networking media and other participatory venues are becoming mainstream in the United States, according to a study by Forrester Research, Ad Week reported Friday.

According to Forrester's polls, social media usage has grown significantly, with a majority of users now taking part. A consumer poll in the second quarter indicated that three out of four online users participated in some form of social media, up from 56 percent in 2007.

Adoption rates vary by activity. For example, participation among those reading blogs and writing product reviews grew a lot. “Spectator” jumped from 48 percent to 69 percent, while "critics" increased from 25 percent to 37 percent, Ad Week reported.

However, other activities marked a more modest rise, such as maintaining RSS feeds and tagging online content. Only 19 percent were categorised as "collector," up from 12 percent a year ago.

Content creation adoption has slowed down, the study found. Those publishing a blog or personal Web site were up 21 percent versus 18 percent. In fact, blogging increased just 10 percent, far behind the 39 percent growth in starting up a social network profile. Blogs, in addition, were still a highly popular form of social media - 48 percent said they have read one, almost two-fold growth from one year ago, according to Ad Week.

Moreover, although younger demographics still dominate social media usage, the participation gap narrowed. According to Forrester, “35 to 44-year-olds increasingly entered the ranks of critics, joiners and spectators.”

“The novelty of today's social technologies will eventually wear off, and consumer adoption will plateau as all new media eventually do. But consumers will expect marketers to continue the relationship they've formed over time and still listen to what they have to say,” said Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff, Ad Week reported.