About The Bay: Social Media Firms Shun Traditional Business Practices
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - In the tech world, phones are apparently so totally yesterday's news. Want proof? Just try calling a social media company and see - or hear - for yourself.
Chances are, a recorded message will redirect you to the company's website. Big name tech companies from Google to Facebook to Twitter all declare that they don't offer phone support.
"Their resources, their interests, it's all around technology," pointed out Golden Gate University consumer psychology professor Kit Yarrow. "It's really not around consumers at all."
"For those people who do end up having problems, I think it's really shocking and horrifying that there isn't really concern about those problems," she continued.
"In this new world of social media," added Ben Pimentel, who covers tech topics for Marketwatch.com, "users are actually the product. The customers are the advertisers. So they will have people answering calls or responding to e-mails from advertisers."
KCBS' Mike Sugerman Reports:
And, at the end of the day, opined Pimentel, it's all about the bottom line.
"It's not really that cost effective for them to be spending money on call support."
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