Back in January we announced that we were about to start an iPhone community to explore how smart phones can be used in online research communities, and to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenal consumer response to the device itself.

Well, after many weeks of conversation, we’ve certainly discovered much more than we anticipated. To some extent we expected to hear that people were keen users, but these guys ‘love’ their phones. And love might actually be a mild description. How about ‘besotted’ and ‘can’t live without it’. What’s been most fascinating is how each user has very unique way of using their iPhone – it’s so much, much more than a communications device. Importantly for Apple, none of our members can imagine how their iPhone could be replaced by anything else, and it’s potentially creating new legions of Mac converts along the way.

There’s a wealth of information coming out of our community on apps, and how and why companies should be using apps to engage with their customers. One clear insight is, if you are going to create an app, make sure it hits the mark. It only takes seconds to delete a useless app, and there goes your direct mobile connection to that customer. iPhone users are hungry for high functioning apps which make a difference to their life in some way – whether it be information, entertainment, connection, transaction, organisation, etc.

Our insights haven’t all just been about the iPhone, we’ve also been testing different ways of engaging community members to enhance data collection and the depth and richness in online community conversations. While we understand not all market research community members have smartphones, they will become increasingly prevalent, so as an industry we need to look at smartphones as one of our ways of bringing customer conversations into our clients’ boardrooms.

I’m going to let ‘Rachael’ from the community have the last word…

“I love gadgets, in particular, the ‘honeymoon period’ when you try out all the functions and play around and have fun with your new toy. You always reach that point though, where there’s not much more to find out and your new toy slots into your life, mundane as all the other stuff or is discarded as a short-lived novelty. Well, let me say, my iPhone and I are still honeymooning nearly a year after we first met ;) The iPhone has far exceeded my expectations… still in love….”

It’s interesting to get different perspectives or definitions to do with online research communities (MROCs). Everyone has a slightly different take on what an MROC is; what it isn’t; whether they’re qualitative; whether they’re quantitative; whether they are heavily moderated and so the list goes on.

A recent blog about the continuum from online focus group to “true” online community suggests that online research communities may lean towards the spectrum of a heavily facilitated research tool.

It is a fine line, or balancing act, to make sure an online research community (MROC) is not over-managed or ‘heavily facilitated’. And by this I mean that they are not too ‘tightly controlled’ and ‘guided’ by the moderator.

However, some involvement is needed. I don’t believe any ‘community’ (online or other) can exist without some sort of ‘input’. All communities need someone (whether it be moderator or member), or even a group of people, to keep the momentum going. Otherwise, the community would naturally ‘peter’ out.

Think about any group you may have been part of, or any community you’ve been involved in (and not necessarily online), the chances are that if it was just ‘left to itself’ it would run out of steam. Or look at it from another angle, if you have a Facebook page for friends and family and never put anything on it or never use it, do you think any of your friends and family will keep visiting?

So going back to communities and MROCs, there needs to be someone (or even some people) in any community who takes a ‘leadership’ role and breathes life into the community.

And that’s what a moderator’s role is – to keep the community alive. That doesn’t mean ‘over facilitating’ but it does mean some involvement. Members still develop their own content and do ‘their own thing’.

While some facilitation is necessary, I think we need to be mindful of how we talk about online research communities so that people who have less experience with them don’t get the wrong idea, don’t you think?

“Checking in” will have a whole new meaning in 2010, as location based social networking gains popularity. Foursquare leads the trend allowing users to disclose their locations, generate reviews of favourite destinations, and obtain the title of “Mayor” at frequented establishments. Twitter and Facebook are now developing similar applications.

Knowledge of a consumer’s social behaviour or pattern is extremely valuable to marketers, however we need to approach with caution if we want to turn this information into actionable insights. It is tempting to jump aboard the next big thing, without defining a clear strategy, or understanding how to use these new tools to captivate your audience.

In this space consumers don’t want to be yelled at by advertising messages, however they will engage with communications that are compatible with their own interests. Location based social media is another tool that will allow us to deliver more relevant messages at the appropriate times.

It will be interesting to see how this new platform is developed in the coming year. What are your thoughts?

We are excluded from communities everyday. It is the affinity we have with a few that makes us unique from the masses. The exclusivity of communities is their strongest asset, because those who are included begin to create, share and build their own distinctive cultures.

Are market research online communities any different? Does each community shape its culture, one that separates itself from others? As researchers, moderators, marketers and brands, how far aside should we push our agendas, and let our communities create for themselves? On the continuum from online focus group to “true” online community where will market research sit in the future?

Currently, this is the only research methodology that allows for on-going spontaneous discussions and it is within these discussions we can offer more to our clients. They are the questions we may not think to ask, and they arise from no agenda, other than people’s shared interests.

Offline groups incorporate brands into their culture; they are just as much a part of the community as the people. Think Adidas to youth, Herringbone to corporate. Could online follow suit? Transforming branded communities into branded cultures?

Well, I don’t think any one can any longer deny that social (aka communal) networking is here to stay (for the foreseeable future anyway).

So you have one of two choices:

• Get on the bandwagon and be connected
• Get left behind and be disconnected (and lonely) (ouch!)

There’s lots of stats out there quoting Facebook and Twitter’s growth amongst others thing.

As Martin Giles says, Facebook is the second most popular site behind Google. Then there are other sites like MySpace and of course Twitter has come along and had huge growth in the last 6-12 months. And going a little outside the ‘social’ arena, there’s LinkedIn where professionals can keep connected.

Of course, these are only the bigger social networking sites mentioned. There are many smaller sites around the world where people come together to share common (and sometimes quite specific) interests.

The thing I find really interesting though is that Australians, on average, spend the most time on social networking sites. Knowing this takes me back to – it’s rude not to be social (networking) don’t you think?