Future Study Labels Social Networking Types ~ Laboratory's MySpace 08: People. Content. Culture

A new study in the UK of MySpace users from Future Lab defines the following 6 social networking user archetypes:

Essentialists: 38%
People who  use social networking sites to stay in touch with friends and family.

Transumers: 28%
People who follow the lead of others and join groups connected to their interests.

Connectors: 10%
People who revel in passing on information and links whenever they come across something they find interesting.

Collaborators: 5%
People who use social networking sites to create events.

Scene Breaking: 5%
People who hunt down media (bands, blogs, video) online and share that through the site.

Netrepreneurs:  4%
People who accessed the sites for the sole purpose of making money.

Given that the source data for this is MySpace, I suspect that the data skews younger and has some attributes that unique to the UK user base.

That said, I am fascinated with how this tracks with how people interact in networks (groups, teams, etc..) offline.  There have been a fair amount buzz recently about the concept of social objects, which Jyri Engestrom first posted on. Hugh Macleod waded in with a great primer, then Doc Searls writes:

“Think of markets as three overlapping circles: Transaction, Conversation and Relationship. Our financial system is Transaction run amok. Metasticized. Optimized at all costs. Impoverished in the Conversation department, and dismissive of Relationship entirely. We’ve been systematically eliminating Relationship for decades, excluding, devaluing and controlling human interaction wherever possible, to maximize efficiency and mechanization.”

I suspect both these wise guys are onto something - people connect with other people around objects that animate their interests, whether that interest is financial, personal or communal.  I wonder though is the intention of the group isn't just as an imprtant - not just the what or the how, but the why.
 

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