Future Foundation plans social network study

UK-- The Future Foundation is inviting clients to participate in a syndicated study into social networks.

The agency said that studying online social networks can uncover insight into the way messages spread, both on and offline.

It has published a proposal for the study, which will address four key questions:

• What are the different kinds of relationship that exist across social networks?

• How can marketers identify key individuals or relationships in order to spread messages more effectively?

• What is it about messages that encourages people to pass them on?

• How do messages evolve as they are passed on?

Business development manager Natalie Allsopp told Research the firm hopes to get around ten clients on board, mainly in the areas of technology, advertising and media. The study is expected to take six months to complete.

The study will consist of interviews about people's personal networks, a study of users of social networks, a nationally representative quantitative survey and qualitative ‘party games' in which participants will be asked to pass messages to see how they spread. Alongside these studies, network analysis will also be conducted to gather data on behaviour in a non-intrusive way.

Author: Robert Bain