THE BRIDGE - THE DEFINITIVE LOOK AT CANADIANS AND SOCIAL NETWORKING ON THE INTERNET

Web 2.0 is here. Are you?

Social networking is a recent phenomena and growing at a mind-boggling rate. While it is primarily an expression of self in the digital age, it also a means of communal interaction and is at the core of the web’s evolution.

Web 2.0 is presenting new opportunities for corporate marketers and communication departments. There is a fundamental shift of how the public and corporations’ constituencies are interacting. And those who grasp this evolution, understand this medium and develop a strategy will strengthen their relationship with their core audiences.

Are your ready to cross this divide? To help you get there, there is The Bridge.

The Bridge is a syndicated study of Canadians usage and relationships with social networking sites, with a focus on Canada’s dominant site – Facebook.

Background

Since 2007 Dufferin Research and ZINC Research have been tracking the Canadians usage of, relationship with, activities undertaken and attitudes towards social networking websites. This has made The Bridge the longest running and most comprehensive study on Canadians and this Web 2.0 phenomena. Not only do we track all of the core social networking activities, but we adapt quickly (as is this medium) to ensure we have baseline measures on its evolution.

From building networks to group engagement, and from social usage to commercial opportunities, if it is happening within the social networking world it is and will be measured and captured in the The Bridge Syndicated Study.

Topics & Tracking

Our approach is simple – we have a core tracking section and another section with exploratory questions.

In the core section, we track which sites online Canadians are members of, thinking about joining, and a gauge of overall site awareness. We also measure “site stickiness” – how long members are spending on various sites – and the important aspects of these sites to users. These are profiled by key demographics, region, media consumption for news and information and political affiliation. We also track membership of Facebook city network membership.

The exploratory section delves into topics such as attitudes toward social networking sites, group affiliation and engagement (including raising public awareness and medical support networks), connection with media and popular culture, and interest in and means of connecting with corporations. We will also delve into ideas of online identity, personal relationships and dating, as well as ethnicity and the immigrant experience.

Methodology

The Bridge is a nationally syndicated study conducted by Dufferin Research and its partner ZINC Research via our monthly Voyageur Omnibus. This ongoing study tracks online Canadians interest, activity and membership to social networking sites. This survey is conducted via and online poll of 1,200 Canadians (adults, 18 years+). The sample is census representative by region, gender and age. As social networking sites is an exclusively Internet phenomena, this methodology is considered representative of the Canadian population.