Social Networking Profiling Part 1 - The Consumers

Online audiences nowadays require a study of its own. That’s just how important they have become. No longer are we just limited to targeting the offline targets with the purpose of bringing them online – the online publics are actually developing a persona of their own, emphasizing the user enhanced experience that can categorize them into groups that share a culture and purpose in their surfing experience. Sure, this might be obvious for some, but considering the time that Web 2.0 actually exists and the current amount of interactions that occur in it, it is a very short time for this audience to actually have developed a behavioral pattern of their own.

Where is this most obvious? Well, in my personal opinion, I’d say Social Networking. Sure, it might sound cliché to mention it once more in a post in this blog, but face it – we’re Trendwatchers and there’s nothing trendier than Social Networking nowadays. Brands are developing strategies taking in consideration Social Networking Websites, adjusting their functionalities and presence according to two factors: the nature of the Website itself – such as a personal brand page in Myspace like it was a regular user or adding a Facebook utility to enhance the users’ interaction with the Brand – or the profile of the Social Networking users themselves. Both these factors require an article of its own, so I’ll begin with the most interesting one for me- the profile of this online audience.

Users have various reasons for joining the Social Networking Websites. At first they choose the one that has the most known users in the RL - peer influence. If everyone you know is talking about Hi5, why would you join Orkut? On the other hand, people will choose the Website that is most related to them – such as a professional organization will most probably share their connections via LinkedIn while a group of Portuguese teens will probably use Hi5. So the decision to join a SNW comes out of a mix of the benefits they can get and the influence of peers. That makes sense as this is how we make just about every choice of our lives as a community. But I will approach the difference and categorization of SNW in another article.

What becomes really interesting is the behavioral pattern of the users after they join the SNW. While the decision to join is common for most of them, the way they interact and the level of engagement varies according to specific profiles. I have divided them into logical categories in order of most to least verified – they might not be 100% correct, as this is my first approach to this audiences’ division.

Worldies – The most verified behavioral pattern on most SNW is the use of the personal space as a private area for the user and friends to share information regarding his lives. While this information might be displayed for other users to see, the owner will rarely accept the Pokemon’ users invitations to join they’re ever-growing minions. These users have either a low or high interaction with the website – it depends on how many people they know in the offline world who join the SNW – the more people they know, the more reasons they have to interact with the website to chat with their personal community in their small little world;

Pokemon – The “gotta catch them all” syndrome goes far beyond the idea of capturing all the furry animals in the Anime. In SNW it means gathering the biggest list of people the user can find. Not distinguishing between genders, ages or origin, these users thrive on the sheer numbers of people on their list. They usually have a high engagement level with the website, as it requires time to not only search for users and browse their friend lists, but also to send and answer to messages. Inside this category we can find predators, usually seeking people for dating purposes, as well as just the casual social networker, who is just looking for people they can talk to – the Pokemon is the most diverse type of user;

Fashion Victims – Depending on the SNW, some users use their personal page as an opportunity to show off. How? By tweaking the page as much as possible. Adding pictures, videos, applications, Templates, descriptions, these are just a few of the possibilities a user has to create an area that serves as beacon for new friends or as a harbor for the current ones. These users have a medium interaction with the website, as they usually have timing for the redo of their personal page – it is not daily, but it isn’t also once a year. The degree of interaction also depends on the SNW nature – the more customizable, the more time the user will spend adding or removing functionalities. Take the case Facebook vs. Orkut case – in Orkut you can edit little or nothing on your profile, while Facebook gives you an immense library of customizables. So, the Fashion Victim spends a lot of more time on Facebook and has a higher return rate than in Orkut.

Groupies – Most SNW have the option to send messages to their group of friends and to join a club or group. Users can create groups to share opinions, views or ideologies they can relate to – such as general topics such as literature or a more specific topic like a Tim Burton Fan Club. These users are also addicts of tools like pools, comparisons, or any other functionality that is aimed to multiuser interaction. Although a small number of people actually live on a SNW for this purpose, their interaction with the website is one of the biggest, as the engagement with a group usually requires constant feedback and a higher return rate. Once again, the functionalities in a Group area depends on the tools provided by the SNW itself, but in this case the amount of users is the biggest factor – for example, the Orkut is highly sought for the Groups, being these groups a way the users show their tastes and personality;

Nobodies – Finally, the last group can be sometimes not be considered a group per se, but in my opinion they shouldn’t be disregarded. The name Nobodies may look like it has a negative vibe, but it comes from two sources – Nobodies where characters of the hit game Kingdom Hearts 2 and these users have little or no information in their pages, turning them into Nobodies to the people who see their page and learn nothing about them. They are the users who join the SNW, fill in the basic information and never return to the website again. With a low to zero interaction with the website, they should only be considered for statistic purposes – after all, numbers can deceive a Brand into believing that the SNW is the most used while it is actually the one with the most registries. Therefore, we should always consider the interaction rate of the users with the SNW and not the number of registered users.

Now for the age old question – why is this important for marketers, if not to everyone addressing the Web 2.0? If you still don’t know, then let me say it again –SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES ARE HERE TO STAY. Brands are more and more exploring ways to successfully engage their consumers by either supplying mechanics similar to those found in these websites or simply by using the websites themselves and appeal to their users. So, the marketer should consider the two factors:

• The SNW as an identity with certain functionalities and uses;
• The users’ groups and subsequent interaction level with the website.

With these two in hand, you will be able to know what strategies to consider and just what type of answers will you get back – a private reply, a massive post in the bulletin board or simply nothing. It’s all up to your ability to approach this new type of audience. But always remember – these groups rarely intertwine, but they can overlap. A Pokemon might be a Fashion Victim, but he’ll never be a Worldie. A Nobody will never become a Pokemon, but you can sure try to attract him into the world of the Groupies. It’s a matching exercise the Marketer must know how to play and believe me – the better you are at this, the more juice you’ll get out of the consumer. Enhance their experience, engage them with the Brand in their own environment and you’ll have a low-cost communication channel that creates a lot of Brand Awareness and an effective mouth-to-mouth communication.