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Manufacturers' Reliance On Facebook For Customer Engagement?


Dave

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Hi All,

 

I own various products from different manufacturers and like most of you, I want to keep abreast of updates, utilization techniques, new products, product specific technical discussions, etc.  I usually go straight to the manufacturers' website and if all goes well they have great info pages, update pages, discussion forums, extensive FAQ sections, video libraries, contact links - essentially an easily accessible resource without any "hoop jumping". 

I now find that certain manufacturers are relying more and more on Facebook to be their primary outreach hub. This is all well and good "if" the Facebook page is truly "public" access, as it should be if after sales support and service are truly important.

 

For example, I am trying to generally peruse this link from the Sound Devices website : https://www.facebook.com/groups/sounddevices/

I keep getting the popup message :  "Not Logged In - Please Log In To Continue". I was under the presumption that this was a "public access" site - how come one must "sign up" to a 3rd party organization (Facebook) in order to receive manufacturers' information that should be readily accessible without having to jump through hoops. On the occasions that I didn't receive the "Not Logged In" popup, I am met with another very rude popup that again tries to get me to "sign up with Facebook" - when I decline, I am given the privilege of viewing the page with the lower third of my screen blocked by the solicitation.

 

Just voicing my 2 cents worth to manufacturers - please go back to running your own user forums on your own centrally accessible customer focused website.   At least then information and discussions can be decently categorized and CURATED, ultimately being more useful and respectful of your customers. JW Sound Group would be a role model for what I mean - well categorized, monitored, information is free flowing and refined, all with an eye to improving the trade and customer-manufacturer relations. I don't believe that the Facebook delivery system engenders this.

 

Thank you for your consideration.

 

Cheers,

Dave

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I don't have a Facebook account either but on my computer, anytime that annoying Facebook login thing pops up, try hitting the escape key.  Seems to get rid of it on my end (Mac / Firefox).

 

As for Facebook trying to take over, I agree it's a rather short sighted approach to keeping people in the loop.  Even back in the day when I had an account for Facebook, thanks to them always using algorithms to show you a never ending stream of the food your aunt is eating and/or updates on the mundane life of that guy you sat next to in the 2nd grade, I would often miss that actual "good stuff" that was announced to begin with unless you browsed to the appropriate page.

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Let’s not forget that discussions and articles can also be archived for future use. Like this site, I enjoy going through threads of past discussions on the Sound Devices forum because it is there and available. It also encourages users to read instead of just asking the same questions over and over. 

 

As as much as I appreciate various companies availability on FB for support, non of that information will be available in the future for people to reference, even if everyone actually uses FB. 

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Facebook is trash, with global influence, dedicated to collecting, analyzing and preying upon unknowing individuals. 

 

If you don't know what it really is then you cannot fully understand it. 

 

Advertisers for Target can literally tell a teen is pregnant before her father knows based off of her tracked web browsing analytics. 

 

Think I'm joking? check out this Forbes article-Forbes Target figures out teen pregnant before father

 

There is nothing public about facebook or its intentions to privatize industries and disrupt private communication between like minded people. If you think that company is not selling and repurposing your private conversations and intellectual property you are sadly mistaken. It is a for profit, brand, used by many to justify shortcomings in one way or another, while simultaneously giving small pieces of their life away one at a time. 

 

It would make sense that facebook would pay or subsidize companies to use their user login information to access privatized sections of formerly public and open websites...

 

Imagine if you will, the leader of facebook, we all know his name, sitting around with some friends joking about the public and making wise cracks about how easily he manipulated the population with his promise of being socially connected. He suddenly comes up with a funny joke; "hey guys, ok ok, so you all know the story about the crabs in the pot, you have to bring the water to a boil slowly or else they just jump right out. Well, get this! I make the crabs build the fire to boil the water too!" All his friends laugh and cheer because they will also make the hard working build their own fires to slowly boil them in.  

 

 

 

Coincidence???

 

"About a quarter of students in the school system meet math and reading standards"

 

Washigton post link

 

 

All these kids have facebook. I bet the percentage of high school kids without facebook is in the single digits. 

 

 

 

 

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Just sign up to Facebook. Seriously. Do it. Is 2018 now. 

 

It isn't hard at all to create an account and it is  purely up to you how much you upload/share/post (you could do none at all, or you could do it heaps. I lean towards the latter, as I realise it is beneficial).

 

Additionally get yourself a Twitter account, you can often get a speedy response via a quick tweet to their official Twitter account. 

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3 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Just sign up to Facebook. Seriously. Do it. Is 2018 now. 

 

It isn't hard at all to create an account and it is  purely up to you how much you upload/share/post (you could do none at all, or you could do it heaps. I lean towards the latter, as I realise it is beneficial).

 

Additionally get yourself a Twitter account, you can often get a speedy response via a quick tweet to their official Twitter account. 

Just because you can't beat them doesn't always mean join them...

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Facebook is my choice for the fastest info on what's happening in this business. More specialty groups on the various aspects of audio and sharing latest info on issues, problems & updates plus it's fun. The instant response factor is worth it's weight in gold to me.

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The great thing about our industry is that unlike support for consumer electronic goods, you can actually pick up the phone and often get on the line with a real person who can walk you through issues.  It's great being able to call someone like Sound Devices / Lectrosonics and talk to someone who actually knows the product and is more than happy to help you.

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20 hours ago, Eric Toline said:

Facebook is my choice for the fastest info on what's happening in this business. More specialty groups on the various aspects of audio and sharing latest info on issues, problems & updates plus it's fun. The instant response factor is worth it's weight in gold to me.


This. If I come across a problem on set, I can find an answer much faster via the community of facebook groups than by posting to a forum these days. 

 

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fakebook is just another tool manufactures have. It is a nice compliment but should not be their only source of customer contact. I think there is no responsibility for the manufacturer to reply via facebook. If you really are in an emergency the phone and email are better. However some answers are faster to find on the facebook groups than on the phone so its nice to have.

Im thinking of quitting facebook actually, i hate it. The main reason I haven't is because of the sound groups I enjoy.

 

Nothing like the original tho.. JWsound. 

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I miss the Roberto and Oleg back and forth comments. 

 

1 hour ago, Eric Toline said:

Actually JWsound is not the original, RAMPS was. Facebook is a lot like RAMPS was, an open discussion no holds barred group basically like the wild west. Only thing missing was gunfire. RAMPS=Rec Arts Movies Production Sound, on Google.

 

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On 5/9/2018 at 5:42 AM, John Blankenship said:

Many, MANY of us do NOT use Fakebook as our primary source of manufacturer contact.  IMHO, any manufacturer who uses it as their main point of customer contact is doing both their customers, and consequently, their business, a disservice.

 

This

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FWIW, coming from a manufacturer's point of view, it is mainly the customers that choose which channel/s of communication they prefer. As I was coming up in this industry, there was phone, fax and email. Next was the contact page on your web site, which most often would generate an email. Newsgroups were around then, too, but have largely been replaced by social media, which is more controlled. Texting has been around for a couple of decades, too. Now there are literally dozens of channels by which customers contact, or at least attempt to contact, the manufacturers. Whether or not we "like" any particular channel, such as say Facebook, we have to realize that these channels aren't going away any time soon. I still personally view a manufacturer's web site as the primary source of public info about a company and it's products. A phone call is the most immediate way to get an answer, assuming the company answers. Email is generally expected to be answered within 24 hours unless during a weekend, trade show, or other extenuating circumstances. And social media is a huge collection of discussions, questions, inquiries, etc. that must be dealt with. All of this of course takes fairly significant resources, but like I say - it is not going away any time soon. 

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