Facebook has become a ubiquitous part of our national culture – like it or not. Just this week the American Customer Satisfaction Index partnering with ForeSeeResults polled 70,000 users of websites and social networks including Facebook, Google, CNN and Wikipedia. Facebook scored a low of 64 out of a 100; an “F” for any high school report card.
Facebook has no subscriptions, and it’s free. Are we expecting to get something for nothing? Complaints about Facebook concentrated on their interface changes, the company’s privacy policies, and their profound increase in commercialization. It’s doubtful that Mark Zuckerberg meant Facebook to be a charity, so marketing is a key factor. Most of us find customer service and customer satisfaction a challenge just in the businesses and organizations we pay to use. It’s a stretch to think that a social media site conjures up the scrutiny of a customer service report card.
I find it hard to believe that Facebook gets so much criticism. Let’s face it; we are all subjected to the customer indignities of airlines, cable companies, print newspapers, and wireless phones. Airlines more or less have monopolies as do television and telephone companies. With those organizations a lack of customer satisfaction and a total lack of customer service are arguable points since we pay for these services, require these services, and don’t receive what we pay for or use.
On June 12, the Facebook monitoring site, Inside Facebook stated the social networking site has been declining throughout North America and parts of Northern Europe. With the launch of Google+ will a new social network cater to the customer service demands of demographics ranging from six-years-old to sixth-six years old, from Alaska to New Zealand, and from every imaginable background and heritage? Zuckerberg claims he is trying to meet the demands of his users. Do you believe?
Now new critics are telling us the launch of Google+ will overturn the world of Facebook. If Google+ promises to carry their customer-centric ethos to this social media site, they might be some serious competition for Zuckerberg. At the very least, it all brings more awareness to the necessity of customer service – no matter which way you cut the pie.
photo credit: The Daring Librarian
