There is no denying that there are definitely different strata of users in that wilderness called the Internet. In the broadest sense – especially in the tech blogosphere it can be divided into three fuzzy edged groups. The first being those irritating people called the early adopters which are followed by a slightly larger group of tech knowledgeable folks but the largest groups by far is the regular person next door type of user.

It is this group of Aunt Mable’s, Uncle Bob’s, Cousin Timmy’s and Grandma Lizzy where much of the whole Web 2.0 is striving to make itself the big hot ticket thing that they will all head for. In the meantime though these Web 2.0 services vie for the attention of those of us that are referred to as the early adopters. We’re the crazy bunch that loves nothing better than tearing into anything that is new and shiny.

While Julian Baldwin suggests that there are two groups that make up the early adopter crowd I would suggest that the second group he refers to is actually the second type in my breakdown of users

A small group of early adopters are power users who have invested the greatest amount of time learning and gaining experiences using the service. Maybe their suggestions seem far off to other early adopters who will understand once they spend a greater amount of time learning and interacting with the service. Thanks for saving a lot of users to come, grief – confusion – declining confidence. Rolling into another point, early adopters are typically (although I have no data) more familiar with the technology supporting the service and can offer a perspective with additional awareness.

As well Julian points out that it is actually the early adopters that are the vehicle by which the good Web 2.0 services rise to the top and are good enough to attract the mainstream users. This might be the case in some instances but I would also suggest that what attracts the early adopter crowd may not actually always be what the mainstream will want to use.

This is especially apparent when you consider two of the hot Web 2.0 services at the moment -