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Social Media: Hype? REALLY, ARE YOU
FREEZE-DRIED?...
Just recently, October 2011, IntelliResponse published a whitepaper,
“Social Media Reality Check: Are Customer Service Execs Wasting Their
Time and Money? New Data on Consumer Behavior Shatters the Hype
about Twitter and Facebook.”
Interestingly enough, they promote the idea that the rising tide of social networks should be viewed as a passing
fancy, an apparition, etc… My first response is, “ARE YOU FREEZE-DRIED?!!!!!”. Seriously, I find this quite amusing,
for in light of all the data presenting otherwise. I do believe this position is akin to the admonishments of the past
that were “Not so much”:
“I say we attack. What’s the worst that can happen?”
- General Custer
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”
- H. M. Warner, co-founder of Warner Brothers, 1927.
“This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is
inherently of no value to us.”
- A memo at Western Union, 1878 (or 1876).
“Television won't last. It's a flash in the pan.”
- Mary Somerville, pioneer of radio educational broadcasts, 1948.
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“It will be gone by June”
- Variety magazine, passing judgment on rock 'n roll in 1955
“Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop - because women like to get out of the house, like to handle
merchandise, like to be able to change their minds.”,
- TIME magazine, 1966, writing off e-commerce.
“With over fifteen types of foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a
big share of the market for itself.”
- Business Week, August 2, 1968.
“The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty, a fad”
- The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford's
lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903.
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home”
- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment
Corp. (DEC), maker of big business mainframe computers, arguing
against the PC in 1977.
“Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time. Nobody will use it, ever.”
- Thomas Edison, American inventor, 1889 (Edison often ridiculed
the arguments of competitor George Westinghouse for AC power
So, during the month of September 2011,
IntelliResponse measured more than one million
customer service questions originating on the
customer-facing web sites vs. their social media
counterparts. They found, that the number of
questions asked via social media channels
account for less than 1/100th of a percent of
questions asked via customer-facing websites.
This was amazing to them, so much so, they
went so far as to stipulate, “This is a staggering
finding…”
So with that, let’s add their quote from their
findings…
“Clearly the hype surrounding social media as a
customer service tool is beginning to wear
thin… While social media is here to stay as a
communication medium, it’s showing no signs
of taking over as the mainstay customer service delivery channel online anytime soon.”
- IntelliResponse published a whitepaper October 2011
In their defense, they did base this advice on Research from ExactTarget shows that less than 1% of customers
choose to use Twitter as their first stop in problem resolution. And for the most part this postulate is valid, for all
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intensive purposes, Twitter has never, been intended to be a customer service tool. However, it’s interesting that
it’s beginning to be used as one.
I did notice that they used their special tool that you place on websites to answer people’s questions, and for the
social sites used Radian6 monitoring, so it really wasn’t an apples to apples measurement, and for the most part, it
was probably a piece of marketecture to shill their tool. Or, maybe it was just a desperate cry for help, for like it or
not, social media has yet begun to evolve.
Another thing that was noticeable is that YouTube wasn’t mentioned. Justifiably so, I would imagine, for
regardless of what internet vehicle you are on, web or social site, the instructional video will be on YouTube.
YouTube, whether you like it or not, is the ultimate self service site on the planet. Whether you’re looking for the
steps to install your Pfizer faucet, or wanting to learn to code in Csharp, YouTube is your goto…
Oh, and as for your position on Social Media, IntelliResponse, good luck with that…. Only time will tell whether
your position ranks with the Hall of Fame above. Personally, I think, your time is already up… just read my
previous blog, “Social Networks: Don’t be a Bovine Clod-pated Citified Moron”
On to the breach again my friends!
__________________________________________________________________
About Rick Ricker
An IT professional with over 20 years experience in Information Security, wireless broadband, network
and Infrastructure design, development, and support.
for more information, contact Rick at (800) 333-8394 x 689
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