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There are many different kinds of users.
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This article was last updated on 25 October 2007, and was inspired by Temptasia's article Levels of Fanpopage (sic).
In addition to the categories of user that Temptasia mentioned, I think that there are multiple "levels" of fans in a given spot (these are generalities and not meant to be an analysis of any particular user). I myself fit each of these categories in different spots, and I think that that might apply to others on the site, too. When I'm in a spot, I tend to think everyone else has the same level of enthusiasm/invovlement that I do, and I don't think that's realistic. Here's my quick break-down:
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Wild, baby!
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* the wild fan: this person submits the majority of the content for a spot, posting multiple links daily. This person is obsessed with sharing what he/she knows concerning the spot topic, or at least with posting material related to the spot topic. When you see an update to a spot in your "My Updates" section of your profile page, this is the first person you think it might be, even before clicking on the link. Often this results in that person not interacting very much with others' material: not commenting or rating very much, because they're so busy uploading more links!
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Committed fans post and review in equal amounts.
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* the committed fan: this person uploads some content but is also quite involved in commenting/rating others' content, usually checking the spot daily for updates/responses. He/she will jump eagerly at any new update listed in the "My Updates" section, rating quickly and adding comments (even if it's just a "cool" or "I didn't like that"), and often participates heavily in various threads of that spot's forum.
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Casual fans observe...occasionally.
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* the casual fan: this person saw some link (an image, a forum thread, a featured spot link, a video link) to particular spot and said "Oh, hey, I'm kinda interested in that" and added him/herself as a fan. The person will occasionally visit the spot, then only sometimes views content, but only has mild interest in the spot's topic and so doesn't feel compelled to rate and/or comment.
Like I said, most people that I've seen are different user "levels" in different spots. For me, I'm a wild fan in the Music Videos spot, a committed fan in the Web-based Games spot, and a casual fan in the Friends spot (as well as many others).
Similarly, there are different types of user behavior. This is more along the lines of Temptasia's article, because the types apply to users in general, rather than fans of a particular spot, but rather than talking about how much they use the site - her article covered that - these types are some of the different ways I've observed how users use Fanpop.
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Global users are all over the place.
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* the global users: these people are casual fans of many, many spots. They view a lot of content and spend most of the time looking at the "recent updates" in their profiles, just browsing new stuff in those spots. When they aren't doing that, they're browsing the site at random, looking for new spots to join.
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These care for just a few spots...a LOT.
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* the focussed users: these people are fans of very few spots, but tend to be committed or wild fans in each of them. These people may have created one or two of those spots, and will volubly and frequently wonder why no one else is contributing to them.
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OK, I've been there...why go back?
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* the pioneer users: these people is constantly figuring out new spots that haven't yet been created, and then creates them. They do little more than plant the flag for queen and country (and hopefully create a banner and logo) before moving on to the next new spot, however.
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My contributions benefit everyone.
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* the philanthropist users: these people are fans not just of certain topics, but also of the fanpop user interface, and spend their time adding content to random spots as their fancy takes them, knowing that any contribution to a spot is a benefit to that spot.
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WIthout Fanpop, I'd never talk to cousin Edna.
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* the family users: these people joined fanpop not particularly to join any existing spots, but instead to keep in touch with family members who are using the site. They tend to be fans of and/or create spots dedicated to a particular user, where they can share photos and video of their family with other friends and family members.
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You may not see me, but I'm here...
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* the lurking users: The primary consumers of the content on Fanpop, these users join the site not to be able to rate links, post comments or even select picks from questions. Instead they join simply to create a list of spots for which they are fans. They then follow all the updates for those spots assiduously, reading every article, viewing every image, watching every video.
Now this is in no way meant to be an exhaustive list of the different ways people interact with Fanpop, merely some of the more common behaviors I've seen in users since I started in June 2006. People are, of course, much more complicated than simple labels like these, and often will exhibit different behaviors depending on the day of the week (schedule), mood, time of day, and level of inspiration. Some times, I suspect, we all want to just consume (view, watch, read, play) what others have posted, because constant posting (particularly for wild users) can get to seeming like...well, work. So these behaviors ebb and flow, and aren't meant to be applied as a permanent tag on someone: "That guy's just a family user" or "She's really just a focussed user on this spot", but rather behaviors that folks demonstrate from time to time. There are likely others, too, which you have observed and I haven't. If so, I'd be interested in reading about them in the comments, below.
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Invite friend
Join this Spot
http://www.fanpop.com/spots/fanpop-users/picks/show/26735
Nice article harold.
I hate finding a spot has been made and is just sitting there empty...
But hey, I don't own the joint. That's just my personal feelings. It seems to me that if someone googles a subject and finds a link to a Spot on Fanpop and then finds it empty, well, i would leave and never return were I them.
Just LOVE it!
Love your analysis!
My assumption has not proven to hold true at this time. I was not able to get any blank Spots to come up on a Google search. Teach me, won't it?
Don't ever say I fail to admit when I am wrong. ;>
nice article :) ♥
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