Does it matter if social media is getting a bad rep?

MarketingCharts staff Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of articles from MarketingCharts, which provides up-to-the-minute data and research to marketers. Television, long disparaged as an “idiot’s box,” has nevertheless drawn enough eyeballs to serve many a marketer’s aims. Is social media facing the same issue? According to a new Harvard-Harris Poll survey, only one in four respondents felt Facebook cared about its users. Far more (38 percent) disagreed with the statement. For Twitter, only 17 percent felt the platform cared about its users versus 45 who didn’t. Eighteen percent felt LinkedIn cared versus same 18 percent feeling it didn’t. The findings come after social media’s leaders earlier this year were grilled in front of Congress about their role in Russian meddling in the U.S. election. The survey showed a deep distrust in the information and news users encounter on social media. It also comes as Facebook, the leading platform, has dropped out of the running to be teens’ favorite social platform. Twitter is also losing ground among younger consumers to Snapchat and Instagram. The respondents in the Harvard-Harris Poll survey were more enthusiastic about Google and its platforms: 43 percent agree that Google cares about its users, compared to 26 percent who disagree; and 30 percent felt YouTube cares about its users, versus 24 percent who disagree. New research from The Verge likewise found just 29 percent of respondents trust Facebook. In that survey, Facebook scored high in its ability to help users stay in touch and reconnect with acquaintances, but only 26.5 percent agreed that it is cool and just five percent felt their accounts are safe from hackers. The Verge survey also showed Americans look more favorably on Google and Amazon.com among tech giants versus the leading social media platforms. Amazon ranked first among companies people would care about it if it went away tomorrow. That was followed by Google, Walmart, Microsoft and Netflix in the top five. Facebook ranked seventh and Twitter was last on the list at 14 with few indicating that they’d care if it disappeared.

• Few Americans Think That Social Platforms Care About Their Users – MarketingCharts
• Monthly Harvard-Harris Poll: October 2017 – Harvard-Harris Poll
• 1 in 4 Americans Thinks Facebook is “Cool”– MarketingCharts
• The Verge Tech Survey – The Verge
• Only About Half of Americans Say They Trust the Internet – MarketingCharts
• Snapchat Furthers Its Lead As Teens’ Favorite Social Platform, BUT… – MarketingCharts
• Teens: Snapchat Now Tops Instagram As “Most Important” Social Network – MarketingCharts