tom.rau
13.07.2009, 15:29
Who Uses Social Networks and What Are They Like?
Written by Sarah Perez (http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/author/sarah-perez-1.php) / July 9, 2009
A new study (http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=137792) by Anderson Analytics looks into the demographics and psychographics of social networking users on Facebook (http://facebook.com/), MySpace (http://myspace.com/), Twitter (http://twitter.com/), and LinkedIn (http://linkedin/) with a goal of providing marketers with information about users' interests and buying habits as related to their network of choice. The end result is a detailed look at the profiles and habits of social networking users on the web today.
Some of the study's findings echo things we've already heard. For example, Facebook users tend to be old, white, and rich. MySpace users are young...and fleeing. Other info is new: Twitterers are more likely to have a part-time job, LinkedIn users like to exercise and own more gadgets.
The Anderson study sampled over 11,000 GreenfieldOnline (http://www.greenfieldonline.com/) panelists (an online survey community) over an 11 month period to understand social networking services' (SNS) reach and overlap among the U.S. Online Population. In May, the company surveyed an additional 5,000 panelists of which over 1,250 participated in an in-depth attitude and usage survey. They then grouped the participants into two categories: those who use social networks and those who don't. To be considered a social network user, the participant had to use one of the sites in question in the past 30 days.
Of course, not everyone is devoted to one social network alone. The study found that there is some overlap between sites, as shown in the chart below.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/SNS_usage_overlap.png
http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/SNS_overlap_chart.png
Social Networkers, in General
Out of the 110 million Americans (or 60% of the online population) who use social networks, the average social networking user logs on to these sites quite a bit. They go to social networking sites 5 days per week and check in 4 times a day for a total of an hour per day. Nine percent of that group stay logged in all day long and are "constantly checking what's new."
Interacting with Brands
When it comes to brands online, the study found that:
52% of social networkers had friended or become a fan of at least one brand,
17% felt positive when seeing a brand on a social network,
19% felt negative when seeing a brand on a social network,
64% were neutral or didn't care about brands on social networks,
20% would like to see more communication from brands online,
35% would not like to see more communication,
45% were neutral or didn't care.Social Networking Myths Shot Down
A couple of interesting things that came out of the study included the debunking of some social networking myths. Social networkers are not as interested in friending strangers or creating "fake" friends to boost their ego. Out of the group, 45% connect only to family and friends and another 18% will connect only to people they've met in person. In other words, two-thirds are connecting to people they actually know. Only 10% of those surveyed said they will friend anyone.
Also interesting is that only 15% of social networkers say they log on at work, thus debunking another myth about how prevalent social network use is at the workplace.
Non-Social Networkers
The study revealed the reasons why some online users aren't into social networks. Surprisingly, it's not because they hate technology - they spent just as much time on the web as the networkers do. Instead, they don't use social media because either they don't have the time, they don't think it's secure, or they think it's stupid. Yet even out of the time-starved group, 22% report they'll start using social media in 3 months and 27% said they'll start using it in a year.
Facebook
http://www.readwriteweb.com/imgFacebook.jpg
As we've heard before, Facebookers are older and better off. They are more likely to be married (40%), white (80%) and retired (6%) than users of the other social networks. They have the second-highest average income ($61,000) and an average of 121 connections.
In general, there is no one area of interest for this group of social networkers. Out of 45 categories, national news, sports, exercise, travel, and home and garden skewed only slightly higher than the rest. This is likely because this network has the most users and contains a high number of users within each demographic.
Facebookers are also extremely loyal: 75% say Facebook is their favorite site and 59% say they've increased their use in the past 6 months.
MySpace
http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/myspace_logo_feb09.png
MySpace users are young and there are less of them on the site than there were in the past. Even those participants who reported using MySpace said they had used the site less in the past six months.
The users of this network are more interested in having fun, specifically in the areas of entertaining friends, humor and comedy, and video games. They're less into exercise than any other network. Oddly enough, despite the youth-skewed demographics, they seek out parenting info more than users of any other network.
The average income of the MySpace user is the lowest ($44,000). They're more likely to be black (9%) or Hispanic (7%) and single (60%) and students (23%).
Twitter
http://www.readwriteweb.com/Twitter_logo.jpg
Twitter users are more likely to be employed part-time (16% vs. 11% average) and have an average income of $58,000. The average Twitter user has 28 followers and follows 32 others.
The Twitter group is especially interested in news, restaurants, sports, politics, personal finance, and religion. They're also really into pop culture with music, movies, TV and reading ranking higher than average. Their buying habits reflect those interests, with this group being more likely to buy books, movies, shoes, and cosmetics.
However, this group is not that loyal to the network: 43% said they could live without Twitter.
LinkedIn
http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/linkedin_mar_09.jpg
It should come as no surprise that a network of business users is the one that has the highest average income ($89,000). Also not surprising is that LinkedIn users joined the network for business or work purposes, specifically for keeping in touch with business networks, job searching, business development, and recruiting.
They tend to like news, employment information, sports, and politics. They're also more likely to be into the gym, spas, yoga, golf and tennis. Interestingly enough - and perhaps because they can afford to do so - LinkedIn users own more electronic gadgets than users of any of the other social networkers. In particular, they enjoy digital cameras, high-definition TVs, DVRs and Blu-ray players.
However, when these guys unwind, they have some interesting interests: gambling and soap operas. 12% seek gambling information online (vs. an average of 7%), while 10% go online for soap-opera content (vs. an average of 5%).
This group is more likely to be male - it's ratio of male to female users is 57% to 43%.
Conclusion
The findings of this study have confirmed in some cases what we already knew about the different demographics of these networks. However, they're still helpful since the more sources that confirm the same demographics, the more likely they are to be accurate. In addition, by surveying social networkers' interests, the study reveals some interesting insights into the various groups, like how one group is more pop-culture focused and another spends more time at the gym. That info is invaluable to marketers looking to best capitalize on their social network ad spending.
Anderson Analytics will be releasing the full report next week. If you're interested, you can check their site (http://www.andersonanalytics.com/) for more details.
Source:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/who_uses_social_networks_and_what_are_they_like_pa rt_1.php
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/who_uses_social_networks_and_what_are_they_like_pa rt_2.php
Written by Sarah Perez (http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/author/sarah-perez-1.php) / July 9, 2009
A new study (http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=137792) by Anderson Analytics looks into the demographics and psychographics of social networking users on Facebook (http://facebook.com/), MySpace (http://myspace.com/), Twitter (http://twitter.com/), and LinkedIn (http://linkedin/) with a goal of providing marketers with information about users' interests and buying habits as related to their network of choice. The end result is a detailed look at the profiles and habits of social networking users on the web today.
Some of the study's findings echo things we've already heard. For example, Facebook users tend to be old, white, and rich. MySpace users are young...and fleeing. Other info is new: Twitterers are more likely to have a part-time job, LinkedIn users like to exercise and own more gadgets.
The Anderson study sampled over 11,000 GreenfieldOnline (http://www.greenfieldonline.com/) panelists (an online survey community) over an 11 month period to understand social networking services' (SNS) reach and overlap among the U.S. Online Population. In May, the company surveyed an additional 5,000 panelists of which over 1,250 participated in an in-depth attitude and usage survey. They then grouped the participants into two categories: those who use social networks and those who don't. To be considered a social network user, the participant had to use one of the sites in question in the past 30 days.
Of course, not everyone is devoted to one social network alone. The study found that there is some overlap between sites, as shown in the chart below.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/SNS_usage_overlap.png
http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/SNS_overlap_chart.png
Social Networkers, in General
Out of the 110 million Americans (or 60% of the online population) who use social networks, the average social networking user logs on to these sites quite a bit. They go to social networking sites 5 days per week and check in 4 times a day for a total of an hour per day. Nine percent of that group stay logged in all day long and are "constantly checking what's new."
Interacting with Brands
When it comes to brands online, the study found that:
52% of social networkers had friended or become a fan of at least one brand,
17% felt positive when seeing a brand on a social network,
19% felt negative when seeing a brand on a social network,
64% were neutral or didn't care about brands on social networks,
20% would like to see more communication from brands online,
35% would not like to see more communication,
45% were neutral or didn't care.Social Networking Myths Shot Down
A couple of interesting things that came out of the study included the debunking of some social networking myths. Social networkers are not as interested in friending strangers or creating "fake" friends to boost their ego. Out of the group, 45% connect only to family and friends and another 18% will connect only to people they've met in person. In other words, two-thirds are connecting to people they actually know. Only 10% of those surveyed said they will friend anyone.
Also interesting is that only 15% of social networkers say they log on at work, thus debunking another myth about how prevalent social network use is at the workplace.
Non-Social Networkers
The study revealed the reasons why some online users aren't into social networks. Surprisingly, it's not because they hate technology - they spent just as much time on the web as the networkers do. Instead, they don't use social media because either they don't have the time, they don't think it's secure, or they think it's stupid. Yet even out of the time-starved group, 22% report they'll start using social media in 3 months and 27% said they'll start using it in a year.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/imgFacebook.jpg
As we've heard before, Facebookers are older and better off. They are more likely to be married (40%), white (80%) and retired (6%) than users of the other social networks. They have the second-highest average income ($61,000) and an average of 121 connections.
In general, there is no one area of interest for this group of social networkers. Out of 45 categories, national news, sports, exercise, travel, and home and garden skewed only slightly higher than the rest. This is likely because this network has the most users and contains a high number of users within each demographic.
Facebookers are also extremely loyal: 75% say Facebook is their favorite site and 59% say they've increased their use in the past 6 months.
MySpace
http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/myspace_logo_feb09.png
MySpace users are young and there are less of them on the site than there were in the past. Even those participants who reported using MySpace said they had used the site less in the past six months.
The users of this network are more interested in having fun, specifically in the areas of entertaining friends, humor and comedy, and video games. They're less into exercise than any other network. Oddly enough, despite the youth-skewed demographics, they seek out parenting info more than users of any other network.
The average income of the MySpace user is the lowest ($44,000). They're more likely to be black (9%) or Hispanic (7%) and single (60%) and students (23%).
http://www.readwriteweb.com/Twitter_logo.jpg
Twitter users are more likely to be employed part-time (16% vs. 11% average) and have an average income of $58,000. The average Twitter user has 28 followers and follows 32 others.
The Twitter group is especially interested in news, restaurants, sports, politics, personal finance, and religion. They're also really into pop culture with music, movies, TV and reading ranking higher than average. Their buying habits reflect those interests, with this group being more likely to buy books, movies, shoes, and cosmetics.
However, this group is not that loyal to the network: 43% said they could live without Twitter.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/linkedin_mar_09.jpg
It should come as no surprise that a network of business users is the one that has the highest average income ($89,000). Also not surprising is that LinkedIn users joined the network for business or work purposes, specifically for keeping in touch with business networks, job searching, business development, and recruiting.
They tend to like news, employment information, sports, and politics. They're also more likely to be into the gym, spas, yoga, golf and tennis. Interestingly enough - and perhaps because they can afford to do so - LinkedIn users own more electronic gadgets than users of any of the other social networkers. In particular, they enjoy digital cameras, high-definition TVs, DVRs and Blu-ray players.
However, when these guys unwind, they have some interesting interests: gambling and soap operas. 12% seek gambling information online (vs. an average of 7%), while 10% go online for soap-opera content (vs. an average of 5%).
This group is more likely to be male - it's ratio of male to female users is 57% to 43%.
Conclusion
The findings of this study have confirmed in some cases what we already knew about the different demographics of these networks. However, they're still helpful since the more sources that confirm the same demographics, the more likely they are to be accurate. In addition, by surveying social networkers' interests, the study reveals some interesting insights into the various groups, like how one group is more pop-culture focused and another spends more time at the gym. That info is invaluable to marketers looking to best capitalize on their social network ad spending.
Anderson Analytics will be releasing the full report next week. If you're interested, you can check their site (http://www.andersonanalytics.com/) for more details.
Source:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/who_uses_social_networks_and_what_are_they_like_pa rt_1.php
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/who_uses_social_networks_and_what_are_they_like_pa rt_2.php