Social Media Flops as Source of Business

Here is an interesting report on the impact of social media in buying decisions from Print in the Mix:

"According to ForeSee's 2010 American Customer Satisfaction Index E-Business Report, which looks at trends in customer satisfaction with e-business industries, social media is not found to be a significant source of product recommendations or purchases for most American Internet users.

Of the four social media sites covered in the survey (Facebook, MySpace, Wikipedia and YouTube), there was little differentiation in regards to users seeking out product or service recommendations from these sources. More that eight out of 10 users say they do not seek out product recommendations from these sources."

That people aren't using social media to help them make buying decisions is probably not a surprise to most users. That is not really what they signed up for. Business people who hope to capitalize on social media, are using it to develope a closer relationship with potential clients. But is a closer relationship what really happens with FaceBook or MySpace? Maybe not. At least one marketing blogger, Rich Meyer, doesn't think so. He is predicting the decline of social media. He links social media use to the frustration people feel with big business or big government. Being connected, he asserts, "is more of a hassle than it's worth." Could it be that real relationships still require personal (as opposed to electronic) interaction?