Recent Research and Opinion on Social Networks

There have been a plethora (exactly how many in a plethora?) of studies lately that are interesting to read and learn about the world of parallel social activity.
Cliched joke most ready to be retired: “I don’t need a scond life, thank you, I like my first life.” It echoes the old twenties joke, “I don’t use telephones, I talk to people in person” and the 80’s saw that “I don’t use e-mail, I write letters like a normal person! What’s wrong with a memo?” It’s so much fun to take the temperature of change and see the evolution of societal attitudes. It’s seems that so often it is not enough to have a personal preference but you need to criticize the early adopters too.
Anyway, favourite quote from ReadWriteWeb, “We all know by now that social networks aren’t a passing fad. They’re no longer used solely by early adopters, young adults, or tech enthusiasts – social networks are now mainstream.’
Anyway, some early signals to watch are contained in this report:
2008 Digital Entertainment Survey (PDF; 8.6 MB)
by Entertainment Media Research (Wiggin LLP)
Wiggin is an entertainment law firm and wanted to study what changes are ahppening in their market.They surveyed 1,600 UK consumers in January 2008 using media research company Entertainment Media Research. The survey questioned their attitdues and preferences and planned changes.
Some of the key findings of the survey were:
– 70% of illegal filesharers say they would stop if they receive a warning note from their ISP.
– 27% of respondents say that social networks could become the main way they access music and video content.
– Given the choice of accessing content on demand on a paid for basis or free with advertisements, 70% of respondents preferred the free route despite the ads.
– There is a real appetite for on demand access to latest films (48%), comedy programmes (35%), live gigs (30%) and sporting events (28%) (figures are those definitely interested).
– However, these figures do not necessarily translate into willingness to pay. For example, while over half would consider paying for films, less than a quarter would consider paying for comedy programmes. (from the press release)
Now this is interesting. Many libraries lend physical entertainment media like CD’s, DVD’s, and videos. If that market moves beyond stores and iTunes type sites and into social networks – as we can already see in MySapce and Facebook, etc. – whither libraries?
The Mashable blog has a very nice webliography of reports and papers on social media.
15 Free Social Media White Papers and Ebooks
Here are the titles:
What is Social Media?
Social Media Liabilities in the Enterprise by Techrigy
Social Networking, the “Third Place”, and the Evolution of Communications from New Media Consortium
Sales 2.0 – Leveraging Web 2.0 to Sell from Genius.com
Anti-Social Networking from Release 1.0
Distributed Influence: Quantifying the Impact of Social Media
Using Social Networking for Business from American Express
The Social Networking Arena: A Platform for Innovation from Polytechnic University
Leveraging Social Networks to Motivate Individuals to Reduce their Ecological Footprints from Carnegie Mellon University
We Media: How audiences are shaping the future of news and information from The Media Center
Enterprise 2.0: How Companies Are Adopting the Newest Web 2.0 Technologies from Techrigy
Social Networking: Brave New World or Revolution from Hell? A look at the phenomenon of Social Networking and the implications for Businesses
Social Networking and The Employer’s Dilemma
Social Media and Social Networking Starting Points from Chris Brogan
12 Essential tips for Success in Social Media from BuzzLogic
I like that so many of these discuss enterprise, academic and business uses for social networks.
This list looks like a great reading club for staff.
Stephen