Note: I am writing this post in Markdown using StackEdit. Markdown is a stripped-down computer language which provides writers with the ability to render a certain text in a variety of formats (.html, .pdf, and so on—I’ve been learning that converting is not as easy as it seems, especially if you want an editor that works across platforms). So, if there are editing issues with this, forgive me as I’m experimenting with this new format.
Okay, now on with the survey stats. . . .
Link Data
I created a custom URL using bit.ly for the link to the 7-Question Springsteen Fan Survey so I could track how often it was being clicked: j.mp/7-q-s. According to bit.ly, that link was clicked 2,464 times, with 1,616 clicks coming from Twitter, 580 coming from Facebook, and 268 from other sources. These results are instructive because I never posted the link on Facebook (I don’t have a Facebook account), though I know that Blogness on the Edge of Town did (as did Bruce Funds [updated 8/30, 11:13am). It’s not possible to see where those links specifically originated. According to bit.ly, other links that have a Twitter signature also point to the survey, though I haven’t had the time to go through each of those links just yet.
The overwhelming majority of clicks, 1680, came on the first day the survey was released. This result is consistent with other online fan community results I have seen where the first 24 hours generate the most responses.
The survey was seen by fans around the globe:
These results generally match the results of the survey overall.
I should also note that my tweets were retweeted quite often, though I don’t have a detailed count right now. I’m hoping to get a tweet reach calculation so I can see how Twitter users might have actually seen the tweets.
Initial Survey Data
Of the 779 Springsteen fans who chose to decided to answer the first question—“By clicking Yes below you are giving your Informed Consent to participate in the following 7-question survey. If you do not wish to participate, click No. You must be 18 years of age or older to complete the survey.”—737 or 95% said, Yes.
I’m only able to provide statistical data for 3 of the 7 questions. It is too soon to provide any information on the essay question because it has not yet been analyzed and I’m not sure which fans have provided permissions. I’ll list of the question and provide a screenshot of the results.
How many Bruce Springsteen concerts (with and without the E Street Band) have you seen live in your life?
How many Bruce Springsteen concerts have you seen live on the 2012 – 2013 Wrecking Ball tour?
Here is a crosstab of the above two questions:
Did you tweet about any 2012 – 2013 Wrecking Ball concert? This includes tweeting about pre-concert activities (buying tickets, tailgating, waiting in line to get into the pit, and so on), during concert activities, post-concert activities, as well as retweeting another’s tweet.
The breakdowns for where respondents lived were somewhat surprising: 46% indicated they were from the United States and 45% indicated they were from Europe. (Note: there was an error when the survey was first released that resulted in Australia being left off the list.)
Brief Thoughts
Right now, there isn’t much to be gleaned from this data. I am most surprised by the tweet to non-tweet ratio. I thought there would be considerably more people who tweeted than who didn’t. Also interesting is that more Europeans (232) than Americans (155) indicated that they tweeted about a concert.
Most of the insights are going to come with analyzing the question, “Why Bruce Springsteen? That is, what is it about Bruce Springsteen (the man and/or his music) that makes you a Springsteen fan. Please limit your response to 1500 characters,” as well as from the follow-up interviews. I’m looking forward to getting started on that work some time in September.
Thanks, again, to all who submitted responses!
springsteenfansandtwitter.wordpress.com 