I’ve really been trying to get a handle on social media; how it’s used, who’s using it, where it’s going, and what it means to me as an Internet Marketer.

I just came across a recent social media study, conducted by Josh Bernoff, a top technology analyst for Forrester Research, that digs into the data and comes up with some very interesting conclusions about the growth of social networking.

Bernoff says that there is a “Social Technographics Ladder” (a mouthful), that shows how people participate in social media.

• At the lowest rung of the ladder are the “Inactives.” These are people who don’t have anything to do with social media.
• Next are “Spectators.” They read blogs, watch videos, and read online forums and ratings from other consumers. They’re passive participants.
• Then we have “Joiners,” who visit social networking sites and set up profiles.
• “Collectors” are next. They use RSS feeds, recommend and vote on content and add tags to web pages.
• Up one rung are “Critics,” who actively participate by posting their own content, commenting on blogs, contributing to forums, and adding to or editing wikis.
• At the top of the social media ladder are “Creators,” who publish their own blogs, post images, make videos, upload music, and write articles.

The big news in 2008, Bernoff says, is that social technology participation has grown rapidly in the US. His conclusions:

• “Inactives” have decreased to 25% from 44% - a huge change.
• “Spectators” have increased to 69% from 48% - more people are taking a look
• “Joiners” have increased to 35% from 25% - participation is gaining steam
• “Collectors” have increased to 19% from 12% - slow and steady growth
• “Critics” have increased to 37% from 25% - more people are becoming active
• “Creators” have increased to 21% from 18% - starting to build

It’s clear that participation in social media is growing, although the “Creators” rung grew only slightly.

According to Bernoff, “I have long suspected that there aren’t more people blogging, creating Web pages, or uploading video or audio, not because the technology gets in the way, but because they’re just not the kind of extroverts who want to talk about themselves or anything else online. I think this group will continue to grow much more slowly than the others.”

So where is all the social media growth coming from?

According to Bernoff, social activity is way up among 35-44 year-olds, especially when it comes to joining social networks and reading and reacting to content. Even among 45-to-54 year-olds, 68% are now “Spectators,” 24% are “Joiners,” and only 28% are “Inactives.”

So what does this all mean to us as Internet Marketers?

Bernoff says, “It will soon be no more remarkable that your grandmother reads a blog than that she reads email. Social content is going mainstream. Social content ranks high on search engines because it changes so frequently and gets linked to more often, so more and more online adults are becoming exposed to it, accepting it, and embracing it. If you’re a marketer, no matter what group of consumers you’re targeting, this means you must pay attention to the social world online.”

But Bernoff also believes that the future of social applications online will not include contributions from everyone, because not everyone has the temperament to create content.

He says that we shouldn’t count on all of our customers to contribute, and that we shouldn’t believe that what we see online is representative of your whole audience.

“The shy among your customers are reading this stuff, but most of them aren’t ready to contribute, and won’t be for a while,” Bernoff reports.

Bernoff has also sliced his data by political persuasion, which may be of interest to you in your business. And you can use his nifty profile tool to see where your own customers are on the social networking continuum.

What all of this says to me is that social media will continue to grow, and I have to figure out exactly how it will work for me.

What do you think?