Social Networks' Users: Profiles and Motivations

The present work aims at analyzing the profiles of social networks’ users, having accomplished an online questionnaire. A sample of 230 cases was obtained (limited to a deadline of a thesis that combined this study with another about enterprises’ involvement in social networks). From the socio-demographic data obtained (age, time of day in social networks, level of education and occupational status) there are different behaviors. The results highlight the need of harnessing the potential of recruitment and business partnerships/projects through social networks. This is important because the vast majority of respondents use these platforms for more than one year and a significant percentage accesses them every day. Another issue is that mobile phone connection has a significant expression, thus relevant for ubiquitous business or work applications. Regarding the actions performed, besides seeing/sending messages as the most usually done, searching for knowledge (new contents) is also expressive what is relevant for innovative initiatives. Regarding the motivation factors, it is interesting that besides communication with friends and meeting old friends, the use of such platforms for professional relations has high importance what corroborates some potentials mentioned.