My trial lecture for my PhD defense in Communications and Media studies 10th of August at the University of Oslo, Norway

1. MUT and the Mobile Internet:
Applying the approach to other
domains
Petter Bae Brandtzæg
Trial Lecture, 10th of August, 2012
University of Oslo
IMK

2. Outline of this presentation
• MUT
• The research questions
• The Mobile Internet
• Usage patterns of the Mobile Internet versus
usage patterns on PC
• Mobile Internet Trends
• Media-user types in the Mobile Internet
• Findings and conclusions
• Future research

3. MUT
• What? MUT = Media-User Typology
• How? To classify diverse users of new media
into user types based on their typical usage
pattern
• Why? In order to achieve a better
understanding of the users and how they differ
in their participation in new media

5. It's therefore harder than ever to
understand how users differ in their
participation in new media.

6. MUT - user types classified
How often is it
according to four factors
used?
Frequency
of use
Is it being used
for many
different
purposes?
Media Variety of
User type
platform use
Which media
platform are
used (i.e.,
SNSs, blogs or
the Internet in Content
general)? preferences What is the
core activity ?

7. MUT – a user typology approach
An initial unified Media-User Typology – MUT and the four criteria defining type by media behaviour
User type Frequency Variety of Content preferences (core Media Platform
of use use activity)
(1) Non-users No No No All
(2) Sporadics Low Low No particular activity, irregular All
(3) Lurkers Medium Low Passive consumption, lurking, SNSs and new
time-killing media in
general
(4) Entertainment users Medium Medium Gaming, watching videos All
(5) Socializers Medium Medium Socializing with friends, family SNSs
and acquaintances
(6) Instrumental users Medium Medium Utility oriented, work related, All
egov services
(7) Debaters Medium Medium Discussion and information Blogs and SNSs
exchange
(8) Advanced users High High All (gaming, shopping, All
programming, socializing, egov
services)
Source: Brandtzæg, P. B. (2010). Towards a unified Media-User Typology (MUT): A meta-analysis and review of the research
literature on media-user typologies. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(5), 940–956.

8. A review and analysis of existing user typologies (22) related to new
media usage, in order to reach a unified user typology
An empirical investigation of SNS user in Norway (N = 5,233) to
reach a social networking sites typology
A validation of SNS-user types and by using a longitudinal survey of
online user over time (N = 2,001/age range: 15-75 years, in three
annual waves (2008, 2009, and 2010) Norway
A validation of Internet user types across countries by using a
empirical investigation among citizens in Europe (Austria, Norway,
Spain, Sweden and U.K.) (N = 12,666/age range: 16–74 years).

9. How can the MUT be used
• To understand users
• To understand the digital divide, in terms of user types
rather than access versus no access/non-use versus use
• To measure the social implications of different media
usages (e.g. social capital)
• To allow media developers to decide upon target groups
(and to develop personas) in research and development
at projects
• To improve the user experience for specific user groups,
by providing targeted services to users according to their
specific user type.

10. RQs
• What types of Mobile Internet users exist and
how are they connected to the MUT?
• Is it useful to apply the MUT on new domains
such as the Mobile Internet?
Sporadic Instrumental
Socializer Advanced
user user
user

11. What is the Mobile Internet -
The rise of web 3.0 (?)
• Web 1.0: The static
websites (one-way)
• Web 2.0: The social layer
(participation and
interactivity)
• Web 3.0: The mobile era
(mobility and on the go)
The MUT has so far been applied to Web
Source: Rowinski (2012) ReadWriteWeb/Mobile 1.0 and Web.2.0, but not on the Web. 3.0
as explained by Rowinski.

12. With the Mobile Internet –
Internet is "everywhere"

13. The always-on is the classic assumption in the mobile
computing. The mobile handsets are workable at any-
time, any-place (Yamakami, 2008, p.571)
Source: Yamakami, T. (2008). A User-Perceived Freshness Clustering Method to Identify
Three Subgroups in Mobile Internet Users. International Conference on Multimedia and
Ubiquitous Engineering

14. The Mobile Internet
• The Mobile Internet is
about accessing the
web over a mobile
device (tablet, mobile
phone)
• Is the Internet used
differently from
accessing it on PC?

15. PC vs. Mobile
• Stationary location (e.g. • On the go in diverse
work or at home) contexts
• Directed and shorter (e.g.
• Less directed and longer finding facts)
(e.g. browsing) • Shorter emails/messages
• Longer emails/messages • Extend and complement
PC-usage
Data from Google search logs reveald that users' iPhone searching behaviour are more
similar to PCs compared to previouse-generation mobile phones (Kamvar et al., 2009).
Source: Tossel, Rahmati & Lin (2012) Characterizing Web use on Smartphones, CHI2012

16. One in four smartphone owners prefer accessing the
Internet trough their smartphone instead of PC
Source: Pew Internet Research Center (2010)

17. Context – mobility
• Travelling - movement between places
• Wandering - movement within a place
• Visiting - the act of being in one place
for a limited amount of time
Context driven user
engagement?
Source: Kristoffersen S, Ljungberg F (1999),
Mobile use of IT. Twenty-second information
systems research seminar in Scandinavia

18. Google project glass

19. The Mobile Internet is about:
• Real-time, context-driven interactive
engagement (e.g., context sensitive
services)
• "Always on" –where the boundaries
between the “real” and the “digital”
are blurred

20. To day the real world and information are more or
less seperated

21. In the near future the mobile Internet will connect things and people
Tracking, monitoring and
controlling

22. But who and how many are using the
Mobile Internet?

23. 10 percent
Worldwide, the mobile Internet accounts for 10% of total
Internet usage in 2012 (increased from 4% in 2010, because of
the growing adoption of smartphones and tablet devices)
Source: Pingdom – using data from StatCounter
http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/05/08/mobile-web-traffic-asia-tripled/
The data for 2012 covers the first seven days of May, 2012 http://gs.statcounter.com

24. Norway:
%
50
Usage of mobile media content 2005-2012
Every
Ukentlig
week
40 2012: 40.0
40 % use the mobile Daglig day
Every
Internet weekely, 31% 34.1
30 daily 31.7 31.5
28.9
26.6 26.5
24.8
23.7
22.6 22
20 19.1 19.3
17.4 16.8
15.07 14.9
14
11.5311.87 12.2 12.76 12.1
10.5 10.6 10.5 10.8 10.2 10.4410.4110.3111.05 11.07
10 9.22 9.11 9.46 8.67
10.5
7.8
6.29
5.14 4.79 4.5 5.27 5.56
3.5 3.8 4.1 3.8 3.4 3.18 3.6 3.87 4.54 4.32 4.37
0
Metodejustering
fom Q4/06
Source: Forbruker & Media © 2012 TNS Gallup

25. Weekely usage of content on mobile devices
60 år + 7
More younger people access
content on mobile weekely 40 - 59 år 34
20 - 39 år 63
12 - 19 år 64
Kvinne 36
44% males and 36% females
access content on mobile at Mann 44
least weekely
Total 40
%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Source: Forbruker & Media. Q1 2012. www.tns-gallup.no/medier
© 2012 TNS Gallup

26. What kind of apps do people access?
543 million people logged in
to Facebook by using a
mobile device in June 2012
(Facebook stats, 2012)
Source: The figure are taken from a Nielsen Company white paper from the AppNation conference
California 2010. based on survey data from August 2010. US mobile subscribers.

27. RQ 1
• What types of Mobile Internet users exist and
how are they connected to the MUT?
Sporadic Instrumental
Socializer Advanced
user user
user

28. User types in The Mobile Internet
Pew Internet (2009)
MRM Worldwide /TU Darmstadt (2011)
Yamakami (2008)
• Digital
• Always on users Collaborators
• Restless users
• Prime time users • Ambivalent
Networkers • Everyday users
• Irregular users
• Media Movers • Rationalist users
• Rovding Nodes • Rookie users
• Mobile Newbis
Mobile click stream of Japanese Survey of Mobile Internet
Survey of US adult users (N =
users (N = 60,311), commercial users , 16-70 years, (N =
3,116), with mobile phones and
news service in the mobile 1,717) Germany and the
the Internet. Nov-Dec US 2007
Internet. 2001-2003 UK, 2010

29. Yamakami (2008) Pew Internet (2009) 38% MRM/TU (2011) MUT
of the user motivated by mobility
Always on users Digital collaborators (8%). Restless users (10%): Advanced users
Actively engaged in Mostly males, late 30s, Younger users, always on, High use and high variety of
mobile web all day, always on, create and share uses a range of different use, all media platforms
broad usage content services (smallest group)
Ambivalent networkers (7%), Everyday users (25%): Socializers
Late 20s, social networking, Younger adults, uses mobile Medium use, medium
information etc. social media everyday and variety, socializing with
added features friends, family etc. (SNSs)
Media movers (7%), Male Entertainment users
mid 30, gaming and sharing Medium use, medium
photos variety, mainly gaming and
video consumption
Prime time users Rovding nodes (9%), women The Rationalist (50%): Uses Instrumental users
Particular user specific late 30s, using email and mobile Internet regular, Utility oriented, often work
behaviour patterns in basic apps selective usage, few added related. Organized and
day-scale features purposeful use
Irregular users Mobile newbis (8%), 50s, The Rookie (15%): Low usage Sporadics
Randomly visits mobile novice users, safety, keep in intensity, few basic services. Low use and low variety of
webs touch (rarely mobile internet) 45 years +, Nokia use. No particular activity,
irregular.

30. RQ 2
• Is it useful to apply the MUT on new domains
such as the Mobile Internet?
YES: Five (six) of the user types in the MUT corresponded
with user types identified in the Mobile Internet.
Debaters, Lurkers are not identified. There was either not
identified any specific Mobile Internet user type
Sporadic Instrumental
Socializer Advanced
user user
user

31. Finding and conclusions (1)
• MUT: It's useful to apply the MUT on new domains such as the Mobile
Internet
• NON-USERs: is to be found in the Pew Study – which accounts for 62% of
the US. population. The majority of users are lagging behind.
• ALWAYS ON: Few users are "always on" even if this is the classic assumption
of the mobile Internet
• DIGITAL DIVIDE AND SOCIAL CAPITAL: The user types reflects large variations in user
participation (inequalities) in the Mobile Internet – and as a results describe
differences in how people enrich their social networks and information access.

32. Finding and conclusions (2)
• DESIGN: The user types represent not only different behavior
patterns, but also differences in preferences and user needs, which
should be used as input to the design of new mobile Internet services
targeting different user types
• MUT: The existing user typologies in the Mobile Internet have been
shown to connect well to the MUT, but rapid evolution in the Mobile
Internet could make it difficult to develop long-term stable user types in
this domain

33. Future research
• There is a need for more detailed analysis of the different user types in the
Mobile Internet. This is a relatively unexplored in the literature, due to the
fact that this is a fairly new domain and the development is fast (e.g. no
user type research in Africa and Asia)
• Future research should investigate if there is a faster migration to more
advanced user types in the Mobile Internet compared to other domains
(e.g. PC usage)
• There is a need, also, in the domain of the Mobile Internet for a unified
typology. All the user typologies used different methods and labels.
Applying the MUT-approach in future research could be a useful solution.
• Finally, - how will the Mobile Internet of things affect usage patterns of the
Mobile Internet in the future?