Research on the Bitcoin community

[unfinishe]

I've been interested in Bitcoin for a while now, partly for technical reasons and partly for political ones, but lately I've become more interested in learning more about the Bitcoin community itself. Who is using Bitcoin and why? How are we using it? What are our backgrounds, our interests, our plans, our goals? I suppose all that might seem rather boring to some, and I'm not quite sure why I find it fascinating to be honest. I suppose I just feel that whatever is behind the allure of Bitcoin has the potential to really be a game-changer in the future.

I've read a lot of the informal polls here on the forum, but I was curious about whether there have been any larger scale studies on the subject (I haven't found anything with my feeble google-fu). If not, would anybody be interested in helping with, participating in, or at least reading the results of a informal study? I'm not a sociologist, but I'd love to put my web skills to work on a project that could potentially benefit the community as a whole.

Anyway, thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think.

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[adamstgBit]

this does sound interesting

i would be participating and reading the results.

[austonst]

I have found it interesting that bitcoin attracts such an unlikely selection of people. We've got the geeks here for the interesting applications of cryptology and the opportunity to work on interesting projects, the economists and stock traders or investors for the chance to make some money off the budding market, and the privacy fanatics (maybe bordering on conspiracy theorists at times) who like the chance to get away from government controlled money supply. It's led to some interesting discussions, projects, and clashes of opinion between people who would otherwise never meet. I'm interested in seeing whatever you end up putting together.

[Garr255]

I'd surely participate.

[edd]

I have found it interesting that bitcoin attracts such an unlikely selection of people. We've got the geeks here for the interesting applications of cryptology and the opportunity to work on interesting projects, the economists and stock traders or investors for the chance to make some money off the budding market, and the privacy fanatics (maybe bordering on conspiracy theorists at times) who like the chance to get away from government controlled money supply. It's led to some interesting discussions, projects, and clashes of opinion between people who would otherwise never meet. I'm interested in seeing whatever you end up putting together.

Don't forget the entrepreneurs like myself who see the myriad advantages to accepting bitcoins over credit cards and PayPal.

[benjamindees]

We've got the geeks here for the interesting applications of cryptology and the opportunity to work on interesting projects, the economists and stock traders or investors for the chance to make some money off the budding market, and the privacy fanatics (maybe bordering on conspiracy theorists at times) who like the chance to get away from government controlled money supply.

You left out the spooks.

Seriously, at one point they were the single largest demographic.  It was like a Communist Party meeting around here.

[weex]

If you want to benefit the community, study what happens when people first learn about Bitcoin and try to use it. What separates people who "get it" from those who don't? Nature or nurture? With these answers we'll know what we can improve to greatest effect and what to stop wasting time on.

[cbeast]

We want to get filthy stinkin' rich. No seriously, we do. Heh! There are many threads on the subject here. Good luck with the research.

[LightRider]

Everything you need to know is in #Agora.

[Stephen Gornick]

I've read a lot of the informal polls here on the forum, but I was curious about whether there have been any larger scale studies on the subject (I haven't found anything with my feeble google-fu).

You might check with @Heathervescent

I don't remember if she made available to us the results.
 - http://www.heathervescent.com/heathervescent/2011/06/announcing-bitcoin-usage-survey.html
 - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=26239.msg327558#msg327558

Nothing else that I am aware of.  If you come across any, don't forget to add it to the wiki.
 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Research

[Deafboy]

What separates people who "get it" from those who don't?

-This

[unfinishe]

If you want to benefit the community, study what happens when people first learn about Bitcoin and try to use it. What separates people who "get it" from those who don't? Nature or nurture? With these answers we'll know what we can improve to greatest effect and what to stop wasting time on.

I like this idea. Maybe something along the lines of a focus group would help for this?

Perhaps you could not only introduce a focus group to Bitcoin and get their initial feedback, but even walk them through the process of setting up a wallet (preferably through some kind of simpler client or online wallet) and give them a few Bitcoin as compensation for their time.

[Elwar]

We are all the same.


There is no individuality among us.

[weex]

If you want to benefit the community, study what happens when people first learn about Bitcoin and try to use it. What separates people who "get it" from those who don't? Nature or nurture? With these answers we'll know what we can improve to greatest effect and what to stop wasting time on.

I like this idea. Maybe something along the lines of a focus group would help for this?

Perhaps you could not only introduce a focus group to Bitcoin and get their initial feedback, but even walk them through the process of setting up a wallet (preferably through some kind of simpler client or online wallet) and give them a few Bitcoin as compensation for their time.

A focus group definitely has it's uses and this does sound like one of those. You might float this idea as something with its own thread and look for contributions to encourage respondents. $25-$50 would probably draw many people into spending an hour. Even $5 will get you tons of people to spend 15-30 minutes.

[edd]

If you want to benefit the community, study what happens when people first learn about Bitcoin and try to use it. What separates people who "get it" from those who don't? Nature or nurture? With these answers we'll know what we can improve to greatest effect and what to stop wasting time on.

I like this idea. Maybe something along the lines of a focus group would help for this?

Perhaps you could not only introduce a focus group to Bitcoin and get their initial feedback, but even walk them through the process of setting up a wallet (preferably through some kind of simpler client or online wallet) and give them a few Bitcoin as compensation for their time.

A focus group definitely has it's uses and this does sound like one of those. You might float this idea as something with its own thread and look for contributions to encourage respondents. $25-$50 would probably draw many people into spending an hour. Even $5 will get you tons of people to spend 15-30 minutes.

I might donate some if the focus group was comprised of a fairly wide range of individuals from different backgrounds. I'd recommend drawing from more than a single geographical location, as well.

[unfinishe]

I might donate some if the focus group was comprised of a fairly wide range of individuals from different backgrounds. I'd recommend drawing from more than a single geographical location, as well.

I suppose forming some kind of online focus group would be the most cost-effective solution. Though, I'm not quite sure what sort of demographics we'd want to aim for (if any particular ones), or how we could recruit people for the group in a cost-effective yet relatively unbiased way.

Does anyone happen to know of an existing non-profit group or organization, hopefully with a little more experience in this sort of thing, that we might be interested in helping out if we were to raise the funds? I know that many organizations accept Bitcoin for donations, but are there any that endorse increased Bitcoin adoption?

[weex]

There was one that put out a press release about how they were paying their subs with bitcoin but I can't recall who that was. Peer to peer something.

[unfinishe]

There was one that put out a press release about how they were paying their subs with bitcoin but I can't recall who that was. Peer to peer something.

Oh, I think I found what you're talking about.

http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/why-the-p2p-foundation-is-paying-its-salaries-in-bitcoin/2012/03/28

[weex]

Yes, I think they would be a good potential partner. BTW, are you doing this as part of a school project or independently?

[unfinishe]

BTW, are you doing this as part of a school project or independently?

I'm just doing this for fun, interest and out of the goodwill of my heart.