Tapping The Power of The Network

Clearly, social networking is a hot topic. I hear people talking about these networks constantly - about YouTube and MySpace on the train, Linked In in restaurant conversations, Facebook at the office. And if the press is accurate, and Linked In does in fact have 23 million visitors, the question then becomes how many people are actually participating vs. visiting?

Knowledge@Wharton, http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2009&jsessionid=9a309ebf34e569213311

featured an article entitled: 'Not a Site, but a Concept': Tapping the Power of Social Networking'. This article discusses the various levels of participation by visitors to social networks.

"In order to help companies target their Internet strategies, researchers identify a "social technology ladder," which classifies consumers based on their participation in various types of social networking."

The lowest level of activity is made by "inactives" represented by 44% of all adults online in '07. Next are the joiners, 25% of visitors to social networking sites, then "collectors" represented by 15% of visitors, those who collect content. Only 18% of online Americans create content.

With so many sites emerging, and such a small percentage of active contribution, what is the magnet that keeps visitors coming back? The answer or answers to this question are crucial in leveraging the power of the network, both for content providers, as well as sponsors and advertisers.