Data Privacy and Ads Drive Customer Dissatisfaction, ACSI Data Shows

Customer satisfaction with social media has fallen 1.4 percent to a score of 72 on a 100 point scale, according to the latest data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Their 2018 E-Business Report, released this month, ranked social media among the bottom five industries for customer satisfaction and the lowest among the three e-business categories.

According to the report, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter have the least satisfied users in the social media space. The other two categories fared better: Internet news and opinion hold steady at 75, while internet search engines and information climb 3.9 percent to a score of 79. 
 
“Privacy concerns, bots, and toxic online discourse have taken their toll on social media. But users report they’re even less satisfied with the amount of advertising on social media sites than with privacy protections,” said David VanAmburg, Managing Director at ACSI.
“Privacy is important to users, but is often in the back of their mind. Advertising is in their face, and unlike with TV and radio, where they’re used to advertising, users don’t want to be inundated with ads while looking at pictures of their grandkids or watch a commercial before a YouTube video.”
Pinterest, YouTube, and LinkedIn were the only social media sites to improve customer satisfaction this year. Pintrest posted the biggest gain in social media, rising 3 percent to its highest ever ACSI score of 80. While ads tended to have a negative effect on satisfaction results, Pinterest was a notable exception: the site features no ads.
 
Instagram fell 4 percent to a score of 72 as users report worse site performance, outdated content, and more intrusive ads.
 
Overall, social media sites have improved mobile compatibility (up 1 percent to 76) and receive high scores for ease of navigation (76). But privacy protection is lacking: Its score drops 1 percent to match its all-time low of 71. 
 
The ACSI E-Business Report 2018 is based on 5,169 customer surveys collected between July 18, 2017 and June 28, 2018. The full report is available for download here.
 
 
 
 
 

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