WilcoxonK+Focus+Group+Report

WilcoxonK

Below you will find a focus group session I ran on five Generation Y individuals, both male and female. The topic of discussion was the most popular social networking site Facebook. Our group came up with five questions pertaining to Facebook applications. I was able to answer all five of the questions.

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 however, because users can easily switch from one site to another. Our focus groups agenda is to seek to determine if Gen-Y still favors Facebook, how they primarily use the site. This information will help to advise Proximity clients on how to create a long standing presence on Facebook.
 * Focus Group Rationale **

This 45 minute session was held in Ocean City MD on Thursday March 18, 2010. The male and female participants were:
 * Setting and Participants **

Lindsay 22, a Salisbury University senior, Social Work major Kelly-Rose 21, a Towson University senior, Communications major Vicky 22, a Towson University senior, English major Kristen 22, a Towson University senior, Communications major Mike 25, a Towson University senior, Exercise Science major

During the session, we were able to cover the following topics:
 * Session Topics **

__Reasons for using Facebook__ All female participants in this session noted that they have Facebook to socialize and keep in touch with close friends. Kristen, said she loves Facebook most for the trend of posting pictures and albums from her weekends, trips etc. Lindsay enjoys Facebook most because she can easily keep in touch with her friends from the school she transferred from, Shephard University. Vicky enjoys writing 3-4 status's a day and commenting on her friends status's. Kelly-Rose just finished up a semester abroad and expressed just recently she realized how great Facebook really was because she is able to keep in touch with the friends she made overseas. She said because of the time difference, it would be extremely hard to keep in touch otherwise. Mike, however, was the only individual who did not have a Facebook account and never has. He expressed that he fears the solicitation Facebook can bring and feels that it would be too time consuming to learn how to utilize Facebook.

__Possibility of transferring to another social networking site__ When asked, all participants except two voiced they would not move to another social networking site, even if a large majority of their friends did. Kelly-Rose, Lindsay, and Mike all said they would keep their current Facebook accounts being that they only talk to a handful of people on their Facebooks currently. Kristen and Vicky however felt differently. They both average around 5 hours a day on Facebook, and said they would consider following a new trend if it came about, but stay active users of Facebook as well.

__Ways they access Facebook__ All participants, except for Mike access Facebook on their mobile devices when necessary. Lindsay, Kelly-Rose, and Kristen all have blackberry Facebook apps, and Vicky has an I-phone. They all agreed that their phones are their second choice though compared to a computer, simply because mobile devices tend to take longer to load a page, and for the fact the screen size is too small.

__Opinions on businesses using Facebook __ All participants present in this session agreed that by allowing businesses to use Facebook, gives great, inexpensive marketing opportunities to broad range of individuals. __ Facebook Groups: __ Most participants voiced they are not currently friends with businesses on Facebook. Kelly expressed she would not join a business herself, but if she was asked to join and felt affiliated enough with that business, then she would accept. Kristen worries that her Facebook is currently too flashy for businesses to see and hopes to change her settings and delete most pictures when she graduates for employment opportunities. Findings ** This session revealed that a Male Participant: · Had zero interest in Facebook · When asked for business purposes if he would ever join, expressed that there are other more professional ways to network with businesses
 * 

This session revealed that Female Participants: · Enjoy Facebook and the many applications it provides · All post pictures, and write status’s daily · All are members of some kind of group · Feel it is the easiest and most convenient method to stay in touch with friends

These findings, when compared with other social networking sessions could suggest that female participants most likely use Facebook more for the applications and social aspect it provides. Males may use Facebook on a more professional level for additional purposes. From this session, it was also found that most users claimed that if another social networking site were to rise and began to compete with Facebook, most participants would keep their Facebook accounts for the familiarity and convenient applications Facebook provides.