Facebook user satisfaction plummets
A new survey suggests members are increasingly unhappy with big changes to Mark Zuckerberg's social network, while rival Google+ is pleasing its fans.
In a worrisome sign for Facebook (FB), which is set to release its first quarterly earnings report as a public company next week, a new poll suggests that user satisfaction on the social network may be in a downward spiral.
According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), users are increasingly dissatisfied with Mark Zuckerberg's social network, while competitors such as Twitter and, remarkably, Google+ fared better.
Here's what you should know:
How was the survey conducted?
The annual report measures 230 companies across multiple sectors, assesses how happy customers are, and then assigns a score on a scale from 0 to 100. Facebook got a 61 this year, down from 69 in 2011 and the lowest score of the "e-companies" included in the ACSI.
Why is Facebook's popularity plummeting?
There are three big reasons, says The Huffington Post: Concerns over privacy, a frequently changing interface, and in-your-face advertising. The introduction of Timeline, in particular, seems to have Facebook users flustered.
How did the competition do?
Google's (GOOG) Google+, which has been disparaged as an unpopular "ghost town," emerged with a "surprisingly strong score," says Fox News: 78 out of 100. The survey's administrators cite Google+'s absence of traditional advertising and what many consider to be a better mobile experience as the primary drivers behind user satisfaction. (Also, it should be noted Google+ has a much smaller user base than Facebook; arguably, only the most satisfied users have stuck with it.) Twitter had a slightly better score than Facebook at 63, and newcomer Pinterest scored a 69.
How did social networks do compared to other industries?
Badly. On average, social networks are consistently among the lowest ranked industries, beating out only airlines, subscription television service, and newspapers.
What does all this mean for Facebook?
Facebook should feel pressure to improve customer satisfaction right away, says Larry Freed, whose analytics company, ForeSee, partnered with ACSI to release this survey. "It's got to hurt Mark Zuckerberg's ego to see another low rating, considering the company's mantra is about making users happy over advertisers," says Donna Tam at CNET.
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God just invented a new social networking platform. It's called get off your asss and go visit someone, look them in the eye, shake their hand, give them a hug, or pick up the phone and hear their voice.
The commercial where the nerdy girl says she has 732 friends "this is living", or whatever, is perfect to show what a moron sitting at a table alone claiming to have 732 friends looks like.
How many of your facebook pals could you call today? How many would listen to your problems and give good advice, how many would lend you $100 if you were desperate? How many would pisss on you if you were burning?? The answer is likely NONE.
I have never had a facebook, for personal or business, and won't ever do it just on principal. I am cool with people not tracking me down and judging me by whatever is on there. A little mystery is good in this information age.
I closed my FB acct some months back . Shortly after opening it my personal email address was FLOODED with all kinds of nasty business, adverts, every dating site known to man and all I had in my profile was my name ( should have used an alias). I didn't get hooked into filing out their gigantic profile. Nothing is private on FB even what they tell you is private ie: your email address - isn't. It is sad most people do not recognize FB and other things like it are huge DATA BANKS, they are gathering information, even the adverts on my home PC changed after joining FB. Technology is great but overkill isn't. I wonder how many people could actually make it through 48 hours without FB, Twitter, cell phone, various pads etc? probably not many.
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