Whether you call it the participatory web, read/write web, Web 2.0, or communities dominating brands (my current favorite), there comes a point when all of us have looked up from the MySpace page or blog that we are reading and wondered if anyone outside of our geeky friends is actually looking at this stuff. And perhaps more to the point, many nonprofits are wondering if all this social networking and online participation is a good investment, or just a fun diversion.

Two new studies offer insights into this question by taking a look at who is using participatory technology. The ever-productive Pew Internet and American Life Project recent released a new report on the “Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users." They identified ten groups of IT users, ranging from ‘omnivores’ -- the 8% of the population who both use and participate in a wide variety of technology -- to the 15% of the population who are ‘off the network’. These ten groups are consolidated into three distinct types of technology users: Elite Technology users (31%), Middle-of-the-Road-Tech-Users (20%) and the Few Tech Assets group (49%).

Not surprisingly, younger people tended to fall into the more tech savvy group, while those over 40 were split into the other two groups.

Forrester has also released a survey of technology use, called “Social Technographics®: Mapping Participation in Activities Forms the Foundation of a Social Strategy”. At $279.00 it is a pricey download (), but you can read a bit about the findings on Ross Mayfield’s blog. The Forrester study supports the Pew findings that younger people are more likely to actively participate online, with teenagers being most likely to create personal content and outlines a ladder of participation.

At the top of this ladder are the Creators, at 13% of the population, while 52% of the population forms the base of the ladder who do not participate either actively or passively as users or consumers of blogs, podcasts, tags, RSS feeds or other interactive online activities. It is useful to have some more substantial confirmation of the different sub-groups and demographics. For a sector that is legitimately concerned about its aging donor base, and the seeming disengagement with civic life of younger generations, the skew towards a more actively participating younger audience is pretty good news for nonprofits.

Thank you to NTEN's Fellow Ali Levine for her work on this post!