Do members of online communities find value in their communities? The 2010 Digital Future study found that 17 percent of Internet users participate in online communities. Over the last six years, we’ve asked Americans who were part of virtual groups to assess the usefulness and importance of their digital communities for them.
In 2010, 48 percent of members reported that their online communities were very or extremely important to them. This is down from the peak of 72 percent who gave those responses in 2005.
The proportion of those who said that their virtual groups were moderately important has remained stable over the last three years, at 37-38 percent. And only 1 percent of members in 2010 said their online community was not important at all, the lowest number recorded in the Digital Future survey so far.
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How useful and important is your online community (or communities) to you?
(Online community members)
For the full report of 2010 findings, visit here.
Visit the Web Insight Archive.