Folderauer+S+Focus+Group+Report

To: Social Networking Team From: Shannon Folderauer Subject: Social Networking Focus Group Report Date: March 22, 2010

Here is my report on the focus group I held with five of my peers about their feelings on Facebook, how they use it, and its overwhelming popularity among its users. The group was able to answer four out of the five questions our team came up with. The majority of the group said that they use Facebook as a way of staying in touch with their friends and relatives, and some said they would leave Facebook if a substantial portion of their friends left the site.


 * Focus Group Rationale**

Facebook is currently the largest and most popular social networking site and therefore the most attractive place for businesses to connect with Gen-Y users. The social networking landscape is volatile because users can easily switch from one site to another. Our focus groups seek to determine if Gen-Y still favors Facebook, how they primarily use the site, and what developments would cause this demographic to switch to another site. This information will allow us to advise Proximity clients about how to create an effective presence on Facebook.

** Setting and Participants **

The focus group session was conducted at the Towson TGI Fridays and lasted approximately 45 minutes. The students who participated in this group were as follows: · Jenn, 20, Female, a UMBC sophomore nursing major · Kristen, 22, Female, a HCC sophomore nursing major · Sarah, 19, Female, a Towson Univ. sophomore nursing major · Nathan, 23, Male, a Towson Univ. senior pre-pharmacy major · Cindy, 22, Female, a Philadelphia Univ. junior pre-pharmacy major


 * Session Topics **

The following topics were covered during the session:

__Facebook’s purpose and appeal__ All participants agreed that Facebook is intended for networking. However, Cindy explained that she spends more time on Facebook using its applications like Farmville and Cafe World. Cindy, Nathan, Sarah, and Jenn all said that they use Facebook to stay in touch with friends from high school and new friends that they have met in college. Sarah says she likes using Facebook to see how her friends are doing and likes the status updates and pictures she sees in her feed. Jenn said it does have its drawbacks, saying "I sometimes get creepers friend-requesting me and people I have never met, but I just ignore them."

__Reasons that someone might not join and use Facebook__ Only one participant, Kristin has never had a Facebook account. She reasoned that, "[she] did not want to be caught up in the drama, and [would] rather stick to forms of traditional communication like talking on the phone or face-to-face." The other participants, mainly Jenn and Sarah contended that their experience on Facebook has produced little to no drama and they prefer it to talking on the phone because it is faster and easier.

__The volatility of Facebook__ Two out of the four participants who use Facebook, Sarah and Jenn, said they would go to another social networking website if a majority of their friends left. They said they would join another social networking website if a majority of their friends switched over, but they would consider keeping their Facebook. They said since they primarily use Facebook for keeping in touch with friends and family, it would be hard to stay active on Facebook if all of their friends and family were communicating on the other website. They summed up that they would leave if the other networking site gained more popularity among their friends. Nathan argued that “Facebook got it right, it’s not at all like Myspace, and I can’t foresee myself ever leaving.” Cindy said that she would stay on Facebook because of the applications.

__The trend of businesses using Facebook to target consumers__

Three of the participants have become fans of businesses on Facebook. Nathan, Jenn, and Sarah have all fanned a business they patronize. As far as being able to fan products and businesses, all liked that they could find the products and businesses they liked on Facebook. Nathan argued that it can sometimes be a nuisance when a business posts too many updates that "clog" his feed. He said when that happens he usually is quick to hide the business from his feed.


 * Findings **

The session revealed that students:
 * primarily use Facebook to keep in touch with old and new friends and also to help overcome the boundaries of long distance communication
 * Facebook could possibly be seen just as volatile as Myspace once was if most its users are using it primarily for communication
 * m arketing is effective, however bombarding users with advertisements and updates is not likely to create loyalty and can be seen as annoying to some

The session should be evaluated with other focus group sessions involving students. Even though the students in this focus group session tend to agree that Facebook is the prevailing social networking website among their peers, results are inconclusive as to whether it has established permanence among Gen Y users.

While users do enjoy having access to businesses and products on Facebook, being overwhelmed by advertisements and updates can be a nuisance. We should conduct further focus groups to look into the effectiveness of marketing on Facebook for our proximity clients.

Folderauer S