Media-User Typology (MUT) Identifies Five Types of Social Media Users
User types | Frequency of use | Variety of use | Typical activity | Typical platform | Studies | Other labels |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(1) Non-users | No use | No use | No | All | Largest of all user types | Non-Internet users, Off the net, Inactives, Non-users, Non-users, Anxiety, |
(2) Sporadics | Low use | Low variety | No particular activity, low interest, newcomers | All | Found in 20 studies | Followers, Sporadics, Laggards, Confused and Adverse, Followers, Indifferents, Indifferent, Media Lite, Average users, Inexperienced experimenters, Risk-averse doubters, Spectators, Connected but hassled, Basic users, Occasional users, Limited users, Approval, e-Laggards, Traditional shoppers, Newcomers, Low media users |
(3) Debaters | Medium use | Medium variety | Discussion and information acquisition and exchange. Purposeful action | Blogs and Social Networking sites (SNS) | Only found in 2-3 studies | Debaters, Contributors, (Creators). |
(4) Entertainment users | Medium use | Medium variety | Gaming or passively watching videos, but also advanced use, such as UGC, programming, and shopping | New media in general | Found in 10 studies. | Attention seekers, Entertainment usage, Gameboy usage, VidKids, Entertainment users, Entertainment, Social recreation, Moderate users, Experimenters, Screen Entertainment Fans |
(5) Socializers | Medium use | Medium variety | Socializing, keeping in touch with friends and family, and connecting with new acquaintances. Active social life, but less organised and purposeful, more spontaneous and flexible. | SNS | Identified in nine studies | Alpha socialisers, Faithfuls Socializers, Socializers, Sociability, The Connectors, Joiners, Communication usage, Minglers |
(6) Lurkers | Medium use | Low variety | Lurking, time-killing | SNSs, user-generated sites, shopping, and new media in general | Only identified in five studies | Interactors, On–off shoppers, Lurkers, Lurkers, Tourists |
(7) Instrumental users | Medium use | Medium variety | Choose media content for information and civic purposes, utility oriented, often work related, searching for e-Government or public information. Low on entertainment use. When shopping, comparing brands and promotional offers | New media in general, including Internet , and online shopping | Identified in 16 studies. | Functionals, Utility, Productivity Enhancers, Spectators, Utility usage, Devotees, Utility users, Narrow frequent users , Specialized users, Internet transactions, (Restricted), Reserved information seekers, Financial management, Comparison shopper, Broad users, Dual shopper, Information exchange, Utilitarians |
(8) Advanced users | High use | High variety | All (gaming, homepage design, shopping, programming, video, e-Government and UGC, etc.) | All | Identified in 20 studies | Actives, Omnivorse, Lacklusters Veterans, Collectors, Reciprocity, Advanced usage, Insiders, Advanced users, Broad frequent users, Intense users, Enthusiasts, Open-minded online shoppers, Confidence, Complex Design, Unconcerned Internet users, Preferences, Information surfer (shopping), Netizens, Specialists, All-round users, Active contributors |
Notes:
A table of different Social Media user types and their characteristics.
ToDo: Fixe white space style for this table.
Folksonomies: todo web science social media
Taxonomies:
/art and entertainment (0.610931)
/education/high school (0.499872)
/technology and computing/internet technology/social network (0.429199)
Keywords:
Medium variety (0.979440 (positive:0.400554)), Social Media Users (0.897453 (neutral:0.000000)), Low media users (0.860669 (negative:-0.446120)), new media (0.845441 (neutral:0.000000)), Social Media user (0.816019 (neutral:0.000000)), Entertainment users (0.789750 (positive:0.356206)), Broad frequent users (0.781273 (neutral:0.000000)), Unconcerned Internet users (0.780494 (neutral:0.000000)), Fixe white space (0.779527 (positive:0.257195)), Narrow frequent users (0.771895 (negative:-0.334200)), user types (0.769704 (neutral:0.000000)), useTypical activityTypical platformStudiesOther (0.763410 (neutral:0.000000)), Low variety (0.756154 (negative:-0.715725)), Social Networking sites (0.748349 (positive:0.470287)), Screen Entertainment Fans (0.743867 (positive:0.526310)), Open-minded online shoppers (0.741990 (positive:0.619042)), surfer (shopping), Netizens, Specialists, All-round users, Active contributors (0.741586 (positive:0.213049)), Advanced users (0.739280 (positive:0.443179)), Reserved information seekers (0.726884 (positive:0.292462)), Non-Internet users (0.712969 (negative:-0.234938)), Basic users (0.706975 (neutral:0.000000)), Limited users (0.706667 (neutral:0.000000)), Average users (0.703762 (negative:-0.337965)), Occasional users (0.703529 (negative:-0.250257)), Moderate users (0.696329 (positive:0.325609)), Instrumental users (0.691667 (neutral:0.000000)), Utility users (0.686938 (negative:-0.356059)), All-round users (0.684666 (positive:0.430406)), Intense users (0.680929 (positive:0.379524)), Specialized users (0.679119 (neutral:0.000000))
Entities:
online shopping:FieldTerminology (0.769906 (positive:0.349400)), New media:FieldTerminology (0.650980 (neutral:0.000000)), Social Media:FieldTerminology (0.585769 (neutral:0.000000)), SNSs:Company (0.431256 (neutral:0.000000)), Faithfuls Socializers:Person (0.409811 (neutral:0.000000)), Social Networking sites:FieldTerminology (0.398988 (positive:0.470287)), media content:FieldTerminology (0.394800 (neutral:0.000000)), Lacklusters Veterans:Organization (0.355840 (negative:-0.298340)), Utilitarians:City (0.346288 (neutral:0.000000)), Gameboy:Technology (0.343113 (positive:0.320214)), Minglers:City (0.297721 (neutral:0.000000))
Concepts:
Social media (0.917044): dbpedia | freebase
Social network service (0.906448): dbpedia
Web 2.0 (0.814337): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Twitter (0.813359): website | dbpedia | freebase | crunchbase
Facebook (0.800328): website | dbpedia | freebase | yago | crunchbase
User-generated content (0.799980): dbpedia | freebase | yago
Social network aggregation (0.705923): dbpedia | freebase
