Smartmobs: Online Community Research

Brief study results are published in a 16-page presentation titled “Out There” ( PDF ). It is obvious that the presentation is designed primarily for people from the offline world, who recently wondered: what is happening? What kind of oddities around?

Researchers have noted a clear change in the role of the Internet in recent years. People became more active, began to generate more content, publish private information about themselves and about other people, communicate in social networks. There was a whole category of people who spend a lot of time on the Internet. They live "somewhere out there", so the work of researchers is called: "Out There" ("Somewhere out there").

So, what is the difference between such "excluded" people of the Internet generation? A brief survey showed that they have three distinct features. The absolute majority of virtual community members have at least one of the three common traits:
')
consider "popularity" a certain value
wish to publish some types of private information online
consider it normal to criticize your company on the web

Approximately 69% of all respondents agreed with at least one of the listed items.

A detailed survey showed that members of virtual communities still have some secrecy in relation to the details of their offline life. Only 54% of respondents are ready to give the online community their real name and place of residence, and only 42% are ready to report the place of work.

The researchers found that about half of all managers and business people are members of one or another Internet community, demonstrating at least a medium degree of involvement.

In general, members of virtual communities can be characterized as follows:

ready to quickly recognize the current trend and follow it (fast followers)
easier to adapt
open communicators
seek a high position in society
looking for new, innovative ideas
in short: these are future leaders