This WSJ article talks about how online community sites are being used for research purposes. The sites, which apparently resemble “social networking sites” are set up specifically by brands in order to create a community of users/clients. Yes, the trend I guess is increasing but haven’t people been doing this for years? I remember P&G and other companies setting up community websites for their clients, maybe the difference is that at the time they were using it more for direct marketing than for research. And I can also see how the new “web 2.0″ social networking features are helping.

Maybe we are arrogant, but when reading articles like this we can only express a big “DUH!“. We have been trying to convince people to do this kind of thing since ages ago but most clients and brands are not willing to try new stuff, maybe now they will start listening…

The New Focus Group: Online Networks [WSJ]