subscribe to RSS feedThe research is by Razorfish, the digital agency, and basically can be summarized by 5 main trends:
(1) The proliferation of the profile. While Facebook and MySpace seem to dominate, “this connected class surprisingly willing to maintain a presence on multiple social networking platforms—so long as a critical mass of people remains. More importantly, we found users actively expressing different sides of themselves on different communities and even managing multiple profiles on a single platform.”
(2) The proliferation of the specialized platform. While super phones like the iPhone and Google’s Android are all about convergence, the Connected Class is ” increasingly willing to embrace multiple devices—even when those devices possess overlapping capabilities and purposes. For instance, they might own a Nintendo Wii for the whimsical side of their gaming lives and an XBOX 360 for competition, or a laptop for managing the business of life, and another littered with stickers for fun.”
(3) The profileration of communications. Users actively seeking to communicate with people they know and people they don’t - but who share a similar life view and/or passions. How they communicate is changing. Phone calls are declining in favor of text messaging and IM. “From a marketing perspective, it is important to note that forms of communication like SMS and mobile e-mail remain incredibly personal, but could be relevant for a select set of direct-response-oriented brands able to integrate into the upper rungs of the user’s social hierarchy.”
(4) The proliferation of self-promotion and social hierarchy. Users are acutely aware of how to use the tools within social networks to enhance their social standing. “For marketers, it is not enough to simply put up a profile and see who comes. Instead they need to consider that users are consciously aware of their interaction with brands that help elevate their social status, or activities that define who they are as a person-whether that is critic or evangelist. The online social activity they choose must offer real social value.”
(5) The proliferation of active brand participation. Increased use of the social web - from the desktop and mobile - means that the connected class has less time to spend consuming traditional media like television and radio. Connected users’ will “soon expect all relevant brands to be where they are and will question those that are not.”
Source
Chief Marketer, October 28, 2008, reporting on a study completed by Razorfish
