Well, some interesting work that’s quoted over at InformationWeek. A poll was done recently, courtesy of Gfk Consulting, which examined attitudes and opinions over social networks, since they seem all the rage. After all, the natural question when there’s an (over) interest in a new trend is “does anyone really care”?
And it seems like most don’t.
Rating the importance of community groups, survey respondents expressed strong or some connection with: extended family (94%), neighborhood or town (80%), religious or spiritual organization (77%), hobby/interest (69%), workplace (68%), local community group (45%), national social activism/volunteer group (30%), professional group or union (25%), and virtual or online community (20%).
Furthermore:
Among those aware of online communities, 50% said the best reason to use them was to keep in touch with friends and family. A mere 16% wanted to view and share media content with people of similar interests.
Perhaps more noteworthy, 61% of the total public — based on the 1,004 American adults surveyed — are not interested in online communities and 18% said they don’t have the time for them.
Granted, things may change over time — and an entire generation of influencers are using them right now, but this kind of information is an important thing to keep in mind right now for those watching, stewarding, altering and creating all kinds of media and relevant applications.
Most ordinary folk aren’t interested in social networks, and if you’re business is in dealing with ordinary (read: not early adopter) folk, you might be better off spending your time on other areas that your readers or users care about … and not betting the farm on something that they aren’t.
tip: stowe boyd
6 Comments
I think it’s hard to measure the reach of social networking right now to determine its longevity. I haven’t conducted any delicious research of my own, but just judging from the fact that even in my rural hometown every kid my little sister knows spends all day on Myspace. I think social networking is something the population will grow into, not only with age, but as more professional social networking sites continue to sprout up (linkedin, bumpzee, etc)
I’m thinking the aging relative test works here. I get emails from my parents and uncles with YouTube videos in them. They get that. It’s just go to a site, press play, and you see a funny video.
Do I see these same aging relatives hanging out on Digg and rating links? No. Too much work. And the purpose isn’t clear if you’re not a hardcore net user.
There’s a place for these social sites but I’m getting more skeptical if there’s enough interested people to support them all. I feel like I’m pretty tech saavy and interested and I only have time for 2 or 3 social sites tops. There’s no way I can log into more than that once a week let alone every day.
This is quite enlightening research, if only for the fact that it confirms what many people have (secretly) known.
Even with MyBlogLog, the first blogs I searched for were those I had already subscribed to, and from there I have not looked around to see what others are interested in. People’s interests are too diverse and extremely personal. We want other people to like what we like, but the feeling is so much more rewarding when the connection is a happy accident.
I reckon the use of social networking will naturally grow, but these percentages will stay pretty much the same.
What about aging of the population who are used to these communities? Suddenly, they are the “ordinary folk”. It remains to be seen if these interest in these communities drop off as people get older.
I would agree with Matt, This is something the next generation really likes and there one reason for that,you can do things independently , creatively and with no fear ….think of second life why people like it …its something same here
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