KonzeptioNerd

Web 2.0 User-Typology

German Südwestrundfunk (SWR) and market researchers result: (result:-Website) have studied users of web 2.0 applications.

Typologies (overlapping):

1. Produzenten (producers) - 6%
2. Selbstdarsteller (profilers) - 4%
3. Spezifische Interessen (specific interests) - 17%
4. Netzwerker (networking) - 12%
5. Profilierte (combine all of 1-4, like “A-list Bloggers” - which is weird, as we’re talking overlapping types here, anyway) - 7%
6. Kommunikatoren (communicators) - 34%
7. Infosucher (information seekers) - 31%
8. Unterhaltungssucher (those who want to be entertained) - 34%

What’s intersting is that “profilers”, those who use web 2.0 apps to distinguish themselves within their online networks only make up 4%. So far, I have argued that profilation (presenting oneself, gaining esteem) is among the key incentives for using sites like MySpace, Xing etc. or for keeping a blog. The result: -study now seems to imply that web 2.0 is more suited to reach people with a clearly defined field of interest or need.

Eine besondere Stärke von „Web 2.0“ sind Angebote für sehr „spitze Zielgruppen“, mit einem klar abgegrenzten Interessensgebiet.

63% of usage occasions follow clear motives, half of them concerning communication. 69% of the motives are soft (and harder to cater to). Only 34% of the users casted feel entertained by web 2.0 applications. And only 6% contribute actively.My conclusion would be that web 2.0 not so much centers around fun (entertainment) and the opportunity to position oneself in a virtual landscape. Rather, web 2.0 offers acceptable web-based applications for people with concrete interests and needs, only few of whom are interested in actually contributing content.

After expert-interviews and focus-groups, the study collected 501 data-sets from broadband-surfers in an online-poll (Oct-Nov 2006). With upward of 10 million broadband-users in Germany these days, 501 is not that representative, though. They don’t say how and where they recruited.

Here’s where you can download the study abstract (Übersicht der Studie Web 2.0 in Zahlen - PDF, 1.4 MB). At 35 PowerPoint-Pages, it’s pretty hefty already. You can request the full study via their website - and it’s free, too.

via HighText iBusiness (iBusiness)

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