Interesting report from Hitwise UK last week about rural towns in the UK have higher broadband penetration than urban areas and as a result, more rural area users are visiting social networks than urban viewers.

The map above from Hitwise illustrates the representation of visitors to sites in Hitwise’s Social Networking and Forums category relative to the online population. Interestingly London is the most under-represented region, while Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland are all over-represented. The data indicates that Facebook, MySpace, Bebo et al are certainly not just a metropolitan media obsession, but do attract visitors from all over the country. This is an important point as it shows that broadband access is the “Tipping Point” for social network participation and as broadband access continues to grow (Wi-Fi, Mobile, Cable, DSL) that usage of social networks will continue to grow also.