Stages of Social Network Participation.

InsightExpress announced the results of research exploring participation trends across social networks, as well as how receptive their members are to advertising. The data indicate membership in social networks may reflect the same behavior which often drives the collection of friends on the sites themselves, with more being better. Advertising, on the other hand, has farther to go in terms of acceptance.

Today, social networks are a mainstay of the online experience. Not surprisingly, InsightExpress finds that 43 percent of the online population reports using a social networking site. Of those individuals who participate in a social networking site, most have profiles on two or more different properties (71 percent), with 26 percent having established four or more profiles.

According to the research, Facebook and MySpace are the two primary starter social networks, serving as entry points for networking forays on other sites with more targeted memberships.

– Of the social networkers who have created only one profile, 46 percent are on MySpace and 36 percent are Facebook.
– Those who have two or three profiles can be found on MySpace (78 percent), Facebook (71 percent), Classmates (22 percent), and LinkedIn (11 percent).
– Among individuals with four or more profiles, 92 percent have Facebook, 89 percent have MySpace, 60 percent have Classmates, 40 percent have Reunion, 33 percent have LinkedIn, 11 percent have Flickr and 10 percent have Twitter.

A look at the data across age groups reveals only slight variances in many cases. For example, among social networkers who report having two or three profiles, most are 18 to 24 years olds (25.6 percent) followed by 25 to 34 year olds (23.3 percent). However, the remaining age groups are also well represented;14.7 percent are 35 to 44 years old, 15.6 percent are 45 to 54 years old and 18.4 percent are 55 to 64 years old. On the other hand, the largest age variance can be seen among people with four or more profiles; while 31 percent of this group is between the ages of 25 and 34, only 14.1 percent are 55 to 64 years old.

No matter their age or number of profiles, social networkers see advertising as a hot topic. MySpace, Facebook and Classmates are identified as the networks with the most obvious advertising, while LinkedIn has the least number of individuals who think the advertising is obvious.

When those same people are asked how willing they are to see advertising on their social network, not surprisingly, they are less willing to view marketing messages on sites where it is currently most obvious. This preference reinforces the idea that social networks are a unique medium in which advertising campaigns must be executed with great care.

So how can advertisers leverage the rich opportunities provided by these platforms? Opt-in ads seem to be the best route, with 40 percent of social networkers condoning this practice, while behavior-based campaigns are far less acceptable with only 20 percent of respondents giving them the green light. Response to the concept of randomly generated ads depended on the site. Only approximately 23 percent of LinkedIn, Facebook, Classmates, MySpace, and Reunion profilers say this approach is acceptable; meanwhile, about 43 percent of Cafemom, Twitter, and Flickr users find it acceptable.

It’s clear that many members become extremely involved in their preferred social networks. In fact, according to the research, among the Cafemom members who were surveyed, 36 percent would rather forgo food for 24 hours than give up site visits or updates.

“Recognizing the rapid growth of social networks and social networking audiences, advertisers have focused on creative engagement and how to apply their brands within a new environment,” said Drew Lipner, VP, Group Director of the Digital Media Measurement team at InsightExpress. “The broad and exciting acceptance of social networking also reinforces the distinct need to develop targeted and relevant campaigns for this channel with the help of advanced measurement tools.”

The research was conducted by InsightExpress between December 15, 2008 and January 12, 2009 using the companys e-RDD sampling methodology. A total of 1,593 respondents completed the survey, and the results were weighted to reflect the online population.

For more information at http://www.insightexpress.com