When thinking about how to approach social media, it can be helpful to think about levels of participation.

Participation in social media can take many forms. On one end of the spectrum, you can participate by actively choosing to be a non-participant. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you can be fully immersed in social media by creating a channel or presence of your own that integrates with other channels and invites participation from a targeted audience of your own.

The Social Technographics Ladder

Two leading industry analysts from Forrester Research have presented a model that helps outline levels of participation in social media called “Social Technographics”: a classification of people according to how they use social technologies.

Classification Description Sample Behaviours
Creators Creators make social content go. They write blogs or upload video, music or text.
  • Publish a blog
  • Publish your own web pages
  • Upload video you created
  • Upload audio/music you created
  • Write articles or stories and post them
Critics Critics respond to content from others. They post reviews, comments on blogs, participate in forums, and edit wiki articles.
  • Post ratings/reviews of products/services
  • Comment on someone else’s blog
  • Contribute to online forums
  • Contribute to/edit articles in a wiki
Collectors Collectors organize content for themselves or others using RSS feeds, tags, and voting sites like Digg.com.
  • Use RSS feeds
  • Add “tags” to web pages or photos
  • “Vote” for websites or in online contests
Joiners Joiners connect in social networks like Facebook.
  • Maintain a profile on a social networking site
  • Visit social networking sites
Spectators Spectators consume social content including blogs, user-generated video, podcasts, forums, or reviews.
  • Read blogs
  • Watch video from other users
  • Listen to podcasts
  • Read online forums
  • Read customer ratings/reviews
Inactives Inactives neither create nor consume social content of any kind.
  • None of the above

Source: Groundswell, http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/ladder.html

The degree to which an individual participates can be based on a number of factors such as:

  • personal comfort with technology
  • having the time to participate and to stay connected
  • having the means and ability to produce content (be it stories, photographs, audio, video etc.)
  • having something to say

While the list above describes the typical ways that individuals participate in social technologies along with variables that can influence their level of participation as individuals, organizational participation can be viewed through the same levels with the same influencing factors.

There is, however, an additional dimension to consider when thinking about Levels of Participation in an organizational context – specifically how can an organization provide more formalized support to these units that are navigating through the varying levels of participation?

Levels of Facilitation

As units within an organization begin to participate in social media there are varying levels of facilitation an organization can provide to support the efforts of these individual units.

Method of Facilitation Description Sample Deliverables
Coordinate Coordinate the various units to provide a measure of organizational consistency.
  • Social media guidelines with tips and recommendations on how to participate
  • Conventions on usernames and logos
  • Recommendations on which channels to use for which purposes
Support First Steps Support units in signing up for their own profiles in external social media channels.
  • Social media briefs to help units clarify the level of participation they are aiming for
  • Direct hands-on support with creating accounts
Promote Publish links to external social media channels within the organization’s existing websites.
  • Links in website templates or on a contact page
  • Central web page listing all “official” social media accounts
Embed content & widgets from external social media channels within the organization’s existing websites.
  • Dynamic widget placed in the sidebar on a website homepage
  • Series of widgets laid out together on a central web page
Build Build a digital property that exists specifically to serve as a self-managed social media channel.
  • A stand-alone website that allows visitors to post comments, submit content, or rate existing content
Integrate Integrate external content with internal, i.e. mix content from social media channels to reside side-by-side with content produced and managed through internal systems.
  • A self-managed web property that allows visitors to:
    • create user accounts
    • submit content and participate in online discussions
    • integrate content from their individual profiles on external social media channels

One of the key concepts to bear in mind when looking at the Levels of Facilitation is that this reflects an approach to social media for the organization as a whole. Each unit will have its own means (and interest) in how it can participate in social media – the task for an organization is to find ways to provide the level of facilitation that meets the needs of its internal units in such a way that creates an overall presence in social media that also suits the organization as a whole, and most importantly, to do so in a way that is adequately resourced to ensure long-term sustainability and success.

So what does it take?