Qualitative Research of Online Social Behavior

In order to understand my Persona Alex and his interaction with social media, I would try to analyze and answer the following questions about his interactions:

1) How many times a day does Alex access any sort of social media?

2) What types of applications or mediums does he engage with?

3) When does he choose to access them?

4) Where does he choose to interact—location and time of day?

5) How does he contribute when using these sites? What is his role? Why does he choose to take on that role?

6) What does he gain from his interaction?

7) When did he start using social media and why? Was it peer pressure, interest, convenience?

8) What is his underlying motivation to use these applications things about his social media usage?

To get an accurate and telling understanding of Alex’s behavior I would first gather this information from observing his daily behavior.

A typical day for Alex begins at 7:00 AM. He wakes up and immediately checks both his BB and  iphone for any urgent work and personal emails. He likes to keep the two accounts in separate devices to help maintain his work life balance. He then checks the weather forecast for the day and logs into Spotify to connect to the iHome while he gets ready for work.

While Alex eats breakfast with his wife Anna, he checks his Google calendar to understand what his day is going to look like. He also looks at the NYSE. Once he gets to work Alex logs onto his PC. While waiting for his computer to load, he quickly glances at his ESPN to see if any news updates about the Dallas Cowboys trade have been released. He also checks the stats of his top players as he is heavily engaged by his Fantasy Football team. For four hours Alex chugs away at work—attending team meetings, sending out emails, and working on the terms of a huge contract.

Lunch time quickly rolls around and Alex meets up with two friends from high school, Mike and Kristina, at their favorite Mexican restaurant. Kristina immediately checks them in via Foursquare and Facebook.

Alex returns to his office and has a few minutes to let his stomach settle before his next call. He casually checks Facebook as he received a notification that he was tagged. He reads his newsfeed, checks to see if he needs to wish anyone a happy birthday and then logs off. He then logs onto Amazon and starts looking for new phone charger and headphones. His current accessories are starting to wear out and he wants to do some research on some brands his friends

Around 6:00 Alex starts to wrap up his day and heads home to meet Anna for dinner. They decide to eat out at a restaurant that Alex’s parents recommended checking out. Alex and Anna both look at Yelp to check out the ratings and comments listed for the restaurant. They also make sure that there are gluten free options Anna’s pregnancy dietary needs.  They both enjoy a pleasant a dinner a call it a night.

Alex is engaged with social media throughout the day, but in a passive manner. Alex joined the social media rather late in the game compared to his peers. It was curiosity and pressure from his wife, then girlfriend, to explore these new channels. He uses social media to gather information and pass time. He never posts or comments, but does gather information for his own personal knowledge and to help through his decision making process. Alex does not mind being tagged at a restaurant, but since he is not so active on Facebook, he will not be the one to initiate that interaction. Alex likes Facebook because it provides him connectivity to friends that he otherwise would not be in constant contact with. It is a medium for him to maintain relationships and to feel as though he is still involved in their lives. Alex does not contribute product comments on Amazon or restaurant feedback on sites like Yelp, but just collects knowledge.