Online community growth exploding
Nearly half of all Internet users in the United States belong to a hobby-oriented social network, a new study has found.
Plus, nearly a third belong to an online professional community like SWOM.
That's according to USC's Annenberg School and the Center for the Digial Future (highlights from the report are in this PDF).
Niche social networks will eventually grow into concentrated, powerful sources of word of mouth more than the big, Life magazine-like social networks of MySpace and Facebook.
Plus, nearly a third belong to an online professional community like SWOM.
That's according to USC's Annenberg School and the Center for the Digial Future (highlights from the report are in this PDF).
Niche social networks will eventually grow into concentrated, powerful sources of word of mouth more than the big, Life magazine-like social networks of MySpace and Facebook.
Tags: online_communities
2 Comments
-
Comment by Gordie on May 28, 2008 at 3:37am -
Coming from the world of online communities, I have a twinge of "told ya so" going on. The problem has always been getting companies to tap into the resource of an online community. Most have been
reluctantscared to get involved where they don't control the content. (Well, and they've always thought involvement meant running ads, not joining the community and getting involved with the members...) Some savvy companies are beginning to embrace their customers in the communities where they already gather, or creating communities for their customers to gather. It's still a long way down the hill, but the first few pebbles are starting to roll.
Add a Comment
You need to be a member of Society for Word of Mouth to add comments!
What people are saying about SWOM
© 2008 Created by Ben McConnell
Great Stuff! EMarketer is a great source of data. You should also take a look at Marketing Charts .
Do you