Forrester Research has released a new version of its Social Technographics ladder to include those who use Twitter and Facebook status updates. The new category, dubbed Conversationalists, are at 33%. At the moment Forrester had just provided figures for the USA and hasn’t updated its Profile Tool.
The other interesting fact about Conversationalists is that they’re 56% female, more than any other group in the ladder. They are also among the youngest of the groups, but 70% are still 30 and over.
What intrigues me is that Conversationalists sit above Critics, which strikes me as odd as the effort required to be a Critic appears to be greater than the effort needed to be a Conversationalist. Hopefully Josh Bernoff will comment to explain the reasoning behind this.
Yes it's an interesting one. I see “conversationalist” as a more creative role than a “critic”, hence it would be a rung up on the ladder. That's not to say an intelligently written critique of a book on Amazon isn't creative, but maybe Forrester are indicating originality too. Certainly still the neatest rationalisation of how people behave online though. I expect they'll create various shades of conversationalist overtime to reflect the variety of platforms people are using. Maybe they'll illustrate them as a paint caddy hung from the rung above. 🙂
I would see conversationalist as potentially more influential than critic, as well as potentially more creative as noted by the previous commentator
I think “conversationalist” is dead on! Brilliant. I am going to be watching anxiously to see how this plays out for you. I see it fitting in just right. Keep us posted!
villa bali
Forrester Research’s new Social Technographics ladder