Clickz and WOMMA both report that research firm Compete has released an interesting report into the people who use social networking sites such as MySpace and their use of e-commerce.
Amongst the items reported is a section on why people join social networks. 78% of people join networks to meet people, 47% for entertainment, 38% to learn something new, but 23% (nearly a quarter) say they join social networks to influence people. This finding has lots of implications for people trying to use brand forums to understand more about consumers and to create a co-creation environment. The forum needs to ensure it is a vehicle for people to meet people, but it probably needs to be very strong on providing a sense of making a difference and of providing information not available elsewhere.
The report suggests that users of social networks have higher disposable incomes and that they spend more online that other internet users. The report refers to social network users as ‘socialites’ and highlights that they consume/view less traditional media and are more likely to say that peers and colleagues influence their decisions. I think the term socialites is a poor choice as it traditionally refers to a minority who are seen as fashionable and who work less and are privileged - the lesson at the moment about social networks is that they are for the majority, not the minority, something like 70% of 18-24 year olds in developed countries use social networks.
The report from Compete tries to launch the term “s-commerce”, i.e. e-commerce through social networks, I am not sure this is a viable addition to the list of specialist phrases!
The report was released in October, and Clickz picked it up at the time, but others (including me) have been a bit slower in spotting it.
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