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New research from Communispace shows that people participate much more in private communities — up to 86 percent — than public social networks, just one percent.

Key findings, based on behavioral research among 26,539 members of 66 private online communities:

The more intimate the community, the more people participate. Up to 86 percent of the people who log on to private, facilitated communities (average community size: 300-500 people) made contributions: they posted comments, initiated dialogues, participated in chats, brainstormed ideas, shared photos, etc. Only 14 percent logged in and “lurked.” In contrast, on public social networks the ratio is typically reversed; one percent of site visitors contribute and the other 99 percent lurk.

Why people participate: social glue, shared passion, having a voice

• Communities of parents get the highest involvement: of the 66 communities analyzed, parent communities, as a group, had the highest levels of participation. In general, the research found that the stronger the “social glue” – common interests and passions among members– the greater the participation.

• Differences between how men and women participate: based on analysis of single-sex communities, the research found that although members of women’s communities participated more frequently than men, men seemed to have more to say when they did participate: 4.8 weekly contributions for men compared to 4.1 for the women.

• Homogeneity triggers participation:the research found that communities based around a particular demographic tended to have higher participation rates. Women and men each participated more in single-sex communities than they did on average in co-ed communities. African-Americans participated at a higher overall level in an all African-American community than they did in other, multi-racial communities. This suggests that people have more in common and are more interactive with a homogeneous group in an online community setting.

• Education and household income were not related to community member participation. Again, the passion around the community’s purpose or its social glue appears to influence participation more than traditional demographics like education and income.

• Having a voice, productive leisure: One of the implications from the research is that people may get more involved in private, intimate communities because they feel like they can have a say and that community members and the sponsoring company hear their views. Another implication is thatpeople may view the time spent as “productive leisure.” They see participating as an interesting or fun outlet for communicating with other people who love what they love. It’s a bridge from what they do in real life to their passions.

People get more involved when they know who they’re talking to and why

• The study also compared participation levels of branded vs. unbranded communities. While the contribution and lurker rates were fairly consistent, branded sites showed a higher volume of participation.
• When potential members were considering whether to participate in a community, they were 30 percent more likely to log on when the welcome notice disclosed the company sponsoring the community. Branded sites had an initial log in rate of 71 percent, compared with 55 percent for unbranded sites. This suggests that transparency – being upfront about who’s behind the community – is a key factor for companies that want to engage with customers in a community.

The research analyzed participation behavior along three factors : frequency (how often members contribute), volume (the number of contributions made by each member), and bystander or “lurker” rate (what percentage of members observe versus participate.)

For more on Communispace’s “Community Participation Trends and Drivers” study, go here to get the white paper.

social netowrking online communities Communispace research

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