Facebook User Satisfaction Falls, While Google Plus Takes Off


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Source: Facebook.com
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Facebook isn't keeping it's users very satisfied. In fact, they are finding more reasons to \(dis\) like the social network, according to a recent report.

Facebook came in last place for customer satisfaction among e-businesses with a score of 61 out of 100, an 8 percent drop from the company's score last year of 66, according to a report by The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

In fact, the company scored so poorly that it set a new record the lowest score in the social media category.

Google Plus, however, seems to keep its users pretty happy.

The search giant's social network debuted in the ACSI this year scoring 78 points out of 100, tying with Wikipedia for highest score in the social media category.

Pintereset also fared well scoring 69 point.

"These sites are newer, more interesting and potentially don’t have some of the issues that have dogged Facebook for the past several years," said Debra Williamson, a social media advertising analyst for eMarketer.

Privacy concerns, an abundance of ads and an ever evolving interface are a few of the reasons Facebook users expressed dissatisfaction with the social network, according to the report.

Users said one of their big issues with the social network was the new timeline feature, which they found confusing, according to the report.

"Timeline has been a big issue for Facebook, things get shifted all around in timeline, so it is confusing for a lot of people who are use to seeing things in a linear order," Williamson said.

Facebook, though, said it makes changes to its platform to improve user experience.

"We care deeply about the experience people have on Facebook and that's why we're so focused on building and improving the products we offer. Giving people the means to interact with the people when they want, where they want and how they want is the most meaningful way for us to make our relationship with people even stronger," Facebook said in a statement to CNBC.

While Facebook may be able to address issues concerning privacy and an inconsistent interface, it might run into trouble trying to keep customers happy when it comes to ads since the company depends on the ads for revenue, Williamson said.

But the fact that Facebook users feel bombarded by Facebook ads in the first place is interesting because most ads appear on the right side of the website, which doesn't really interfere with user experience, Williamson said.

"The advertising becomes more intrusive in the newsfeed," Williamson said. "Facebook has just started to roll ads out in the newsfeed in the past few months, but the ads look just like any other post on Facebook, they're made not to be blaring or glaring in your face.”

Regardless of how subtle the ads are, more Facebook users are getting irked by the interface, and that's not something the social network should ignore, Williamson said.

"There are things you just put up with as a user, but as the survey shows Facebook needs to do a better job of satisfying its users or they’ll find somewhere else to go," she said.



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