Ever wondered just who uses social media sites? Here are the 23 types of social media users - Which one are you?
The Super User – The Super User is a person who has a lot of pull on any given site. They have a ton of friends and fans and for this reason whatever they bookmark or submit gets lots of views and votes. It is no coincidence you see the same usernames repeating over and over on Digg’s homepage. The Super User takes pride in the fact that they are a Super User. Some have ulterior motives, but to most it’s like a game to them.
The Active User – This user is really active on any given site - they submit a lot, vote and comment a lot. They may always remain just an active user or eventually evolve into a ‘Super User’.
The Greedy Webmaster – This webmaster will sign up for as many social networking sites as possible and submit their own stories. After that, they will submit some more of their own stuff, and then maybe some more. At no time will they stop to realize they are getting nowhere on social sites without being “social” and voting for other people, becoming involved in the site, and submitting content you think will be useful to the site.
The Spammer – The spammer spams. They spam the comments, the submit sections, your private messages and Tom. They are a nuisance and inevitability going to be on any high traffic site. The Spammer is closely related to the ‘Greedy Webmaster’ and may also be a ‘Fake Hot Girl’
The Skeptic – The skeptic is not so sure what you just said is right.
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Yep, they just looked it up on Wikipedia and proved your ass wrong.
The Hater – This person has pent up rage. They probably are either some immature kid or the type of person that has never acted out in real life. They may be constantly trying to please other people (spouse, boss) and behind the username of a youtube account their true feelings come out. Whether it be your race, your looks, your intelligence, or your mom – they will make it known they think it SUCKS.
The O.G – The O.G remembers how the site “used to be”, before the ‘Noobs’ and ‘Spammers’ ruined things. They often let you know in the comment section that they are reminiscing of a better time when the site didn’t “suck”.
The Lurker – The lurker does not usually sign up for any given site, or may sign up but never actually participate in anyway. The lurker uses social media sites for their own benefit or entertainment. They are similar to the ‘Average Joes’ in terms of their visiting frequency and may also be an ‘Avid Learner’.
The Helpful Stranger – The Helpful Stranger is a nice person and loves helping other people. Most of the people they help they never have or will see in real life, but they are experienced with wisdom and like to share it. Helpful Strangers often become ‘Super Users’ because of the reputations they build.
The Multi-User/The Gamer – This person is almost guaranteed to also be a ‘Spammer’ or a ‘Greedy Webmaster’. They will either use a bot or manually make as many accounts as they can in order to game the social media sites. If submitting their own content is not working out you can usually see them selling off their services in any of the popular webmaster forums for dirt cheap. The Gamer will use various different techniques, but is often also a ‘Fake Hot Girl’.
The Smart Webmaster – The smart webmaster gets it. They may be an ‘Average Joe’, ‘Active Member’ or even ‘Super User’ but they understand social media optimization. They understand how to link bait for specific niched sites. They know how to use second tier social bookmarking sites to leverage first tier ones. They know it takes being social and building quality content to strive on social media sites - and they do it often to cash in big time.
The Fake Hot Girl – Old as the internet, the Fake Hot Girl is primarily a marketing tool for ‘The Gamers’ and ‘The Spammers’. It has been largely popularized by Myspace spammers in recent history. Beware of her lures to join her on webcam or sign up for a free ipod.
The Clueless Webmaster – This person is a webmaster who is either very old school or just plain bad. They know they see posts on the forums about stumbleupon, digg and delicious, but they don’t understand how the sites work. You’ll often see them submitting sites that will have no chance of getting hot and even paying ‘The Gamers’ to make it hot and thus getting their site banned. (No matter how many accounts you’ve got going, your proxy site is NOT going to last) They may also ask for votes weeks after their stories have been submitted, again not understanding the concept of “hot stories”. The Clueless Webmaster may evolve into any other social media type or simply give up.
The Rick Roller – This user is just an ass. He will post links with either no description or false descriptions in comments that links to something gross or stupid. Like the infamous rick roll video, and much, much worse. Remember when kids used to play nicky nicky nine door? This is pretty much the online equivalent but worse because instead of nothing you get something you never wanted.
The Avid Learner – The AL is knowledge hungry. They love self help articles, how to’s, and cool science. The Avid Learner is also typically an ‘Active User’ at more tech based sites like Digg.
The Staff – The Staff, who are patrolling any major social media site, are there largely to combat ‘The Spammers’ and ‘The Gamers’
The Know-it-All – The know-it-all thinks they know everything about every subject. And they want you to know it.
The Wannabe – They use the site’s lingo, trying to fit in the community with witty comments, yet never seems to make the cut with site regulars.
The Noob – They are new and don’t know how the site works yet. Many Noobs will not stick around if they can’t figure the site out fast enough which is a prime reason a web 2.0 site needs to have superb usability. A Noob may move on to another site or progress into an ‘Average Joe’, ‘Hater’, ‘Skeptic’, or other similar user.
The Average Joe – On the site recreationally, just to pass time whether screwing around at work or school or on their spare time. The Average Joe does not typically submit a ton of stories or sites but instead uses the site for their own entertainment. Once in a while, the Average Joe may comment and get involved on something they are passionate about on a lively discussion. Otherwise they pretty much go about their business, adding friends now and again and checking in a few times per week. The Average Joe is the most common of all users.
The Shocked Stay At Home Mom – The SSAHM is a mother or father who was dusting off the computer when something disturbing catches their eye. In general the SSAHM is not computer savvy and has no idea how vulgar the net is. They will proceed to sign up an account just to voice their outrage at the things being shown or said and how they can’t believe that such horrible content is allowed on the internet. After a SSAHM’s outrage they will sometimes search out similar content on the site to voice their concern until they come to the sad realization that there is no end. The next step is usually banning of such said web or anything similar for their kids, and possibly the internet all together.
The 13 Year Old Supposed To Be Doing Homework– BLAH BALH DSLFKJ!!! BRITNEY SPEARS IS OLD! Yeah, that’s them. Many times also a ‘Hater’ and thrilled at the reactions they can pull out of people with simple text.
The Moron – You don’t know if they are really as stupid as they sound or just acting stupid. Then you realize that there are way too many of them to be acting. You can find the DA roaming around every social site although they do like to populate Yahoo Answers and Youtube in flocks.
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