Social Networks Influential, Not Always Trusted
Nearly one in five US Internet users (18%) say they have purchased a product because of something they have seen on a social networking website—such as Facebook or Twitter—yet social sites continue to receive low trust and privacy ratings from consumers of all ages, according to a survey from Vision Critical.
Even so, 28% of Internet users age 18-34 say they have purchased a product because of something they have seen on a social networking site.
Below, other findings from Vision Critical's three-country survey on social media.
Trustworthiness of People, Media
Though online social networking sites bring consumers closer to the most-trusted parts of their lives—their family and friends—consumers place little trust in the sites themselves: just 12% say they fully trust social networking sites, while only 8% trust online forums, blogs, and reviews.
Trust is greater toward traditional media channels, such as TV (38%), radio (45%), and print newspapers (33%), but face-to-face encounters with family (80%) and friends (70%) are the most trustworthy.
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Comments
While I understand that a free site needs to advertise, it seems that Facebook has let enough of my identity out as to be ridiculous: For example getting three ads in a row that just happen to have "special deals for 37 year olds born in Minnesota!"
Giles, Senior Content Editor, TrustWorks