What term describes a fictitious user that represents a group of actual users?

The term that best describes a fictitious user representing a group of actual users is "persona." In social media strategy and user experience design, a persona is created based on research and data collected about the target audience. These personas encapsulate the behaviors, goals, challenges, and preferences of a specific segment of users, allowing marketers and strategists to tailor their content and interactions to meet the needs of real users more effectively.

Creating personas helps teams visualize and understand the target audience, enabling them to create relevant and engaging content that resonates with potential users. The process of developing a persona involves analyzing demographic data, user behavior, motivations, and pain points, ultimately leading to better-targeted strategies in social media marketing and beyond.

While avatars, profiles, and user archetypes may have similar connotations, they do not specifically capture the essence of representing a group based on data-driven insights in the same way that personas do. Avatars often represent individual users in a virtual context, and profiles typically refer to a user’s account details, while user archetypes can encompass broader behavioral patterns but are less focused on the detailed narrative of specific user characteristics.