No, We're 29th! We're 29th!

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As mentioned, the United States ranks sixth in overall broadband spending. But according to my friends at Plaxo, Inc., the "smart address book" company, we're much worse when it comes to something Americans are supposed to excel at: staying connected to each other.

Although Americans pride themselves on their connections, it's interesting that other countries that are known for strong family ties are the ones who top the list - Argentina leading the way in first place and South American countries are four of the top 10 countries ranked.

The survey, based on anonymous, aggregated data from over 10 million members, found that Argentina led the Index, with an average of 479 contacts per address book. The Argentinean average is nearly 100 contacts greater than second place Austria whose Plaxo members had an average of 384 colleagues, friends, family, or other contacts in their address book. The United States tied with the Dominican Republic for 29th place, with an average address book size of 293 contacts.

With nearly 200 less contacts than the leading connected country, the United States finds itself tied with the Dominican Republic for 29th place. The Connected Life Index, an anonymous survey which compiled aggregated data from the more than 10 million Plaxo members across the globe, shows that Americans do not have as high a value of "connectedness" the way other countries may.

Others surpassing the U.S. are Hong Kong, Austria, South Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, the Czech Republic and Chile. Even Turkey, with an average of 335 contacts per person, beats us, as do Thailand, Taiwan and Ireland.

We gotta do better folks -- fire up those Rolodexes and start inputting!