Before brands and online publishers attempt to deploy social technologies, they must understand their target audience - specifically its social "technographic" make-up - and only then create a social-computing strategy, according to a just-released a Forrester Research report titled "Social Technographics: Mapping Participation in Activities Forms the Foundation of a Social Strategy."

The term refers to the levels of audience participation in social computing rather than specific technology adoption, writes the report's lead author, Charlene Li (via MarketingCharts).

Forrester groups users into six participation categories, using a ladder metaphor, with "Inactives" at the bottom rung and "Creators" at the topmost rung.

Not surprisingly, the Inactives constitute the majority (52%) of US adult online consumers - followed by, in ascending hierarchical order, Spectators (33%), Joiners (19%), Collectors (15%), Critics (19%) and Creators (13%).

The report also provides guidance on how companies can create strategies using Social Technographics, Li writes - for one, to help figure out which social strategies to deploy first, and how to help users ascend the ladder toward higher levels of engagement.

More details at MarketingCharts.