According to a new report from the European Commission, only 51 percent of Europeans use the Internet at least once a week. (HT: Times of London) But of those that do, nearly 80 percent utilize broadband connections. For comparison, consider that 72 percent of Americans say they used the Internet "yesterday" while more than 50 percent of American households (or 69 percent of Internet users) now connect via broadband.

The country-by-country findings of the Commission's research are even more interesting. Internet use once-a-week or more in many of the Mediterranean and Eastern European countries is quite low. (For example: Greece: 29%, Italy: 34%, Spain: 43%, Bulgaria: 29%, Poland: 39%, Czech Republic: 41%) Meanwhile, Internet use in Scandinavia is remarkably high. It's interesting to speculate about the cultural and infrastructure factors that might be driving these trends. (And if anyone from the Commission is reading this, some greater exploration of the underlying dynamics of Internet usage or lack thereof would be interesting in subsequent reports.)

So, what does this mean for digital communications in Europe?

First, Internet use in the three largest countries, France, Germany and the United Kingdom is generally around or above 60 percent. Pair that with greater than average broadband take-up, and it's easy to see why communications dynamics are changing faster in these three nations than elsewhere. in particular, these numbers help explain why YouTube recently became the UK's most visited site.

Second, lower than average Internet usage suggests that digital communications efforts need to focus more on mobile opportunities, given the extraordinarily high mobile penetration rates in markets across Europe.

Third, usage statistics are irrelevant to the fact that bloggers and other well-networked users help shape opinions.

All of this data underscores an important point: the social impact of the technology has already happened. Whether consumers are going online or not, the way that they get and share information -- and expect to engage with businesses -- has changed. They are more connected -- online and offline -- than ever before. And they're forming groups around common interests and shared purposes.

Which is why we must embrace authenticity across all communications, not just in the digital realm.