Gradual decline in enthusiasm for Facebook, Twitter: Study

More and more people are gradually viewing social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter and enterprise social media LinkedIn negatively than in the past, an interesting study has revealed.

The team from American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) which tracks opinions of search engines, news outlets, social media sites and other ‘e-businesses’ found that consumers view Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn more negatively than in years past.

Facebook and Twitter saw the largest declines – at nine per cent and eight per cent, respectively. An increase in restless user base on some of the largest social media sites is forcing advertisers and the businesses who run them to put their money elsewhere.

The declines are driven in part by the presence of advertising on services that are still regarded as “free”. Consumers have not fully accepted advertising as a necessary cost for online services they have come to expect as free. There is little companies can do to change that perception beyond making sure that those advertisements are relevant and non-disruptive, the report said.

Facebook was mired in controversy over “curated” news where it was accused of political bias in its “trending news” section after news broke that stories from politically conservative sources were sidelined. However, the company denied such a bias.

Earlier this year, reports said that Twitter irked many users when it tweaked its newsfeed from a chronological system to a new algorithm based system. It has also failed to keep pace with ever-evolving social apps including Snapchat, Imgur and Instagram.

“It’s impossible for global brands with massive user bases to like Facebook and Twitter to keep everyone happy,” experts added.