Will Facebook and other social networks eventually need to create a larger focus on their customer service and related tactics?  Social media has offered a certain air of democracy for individual end users, providing platforms for personal sop boxes and giving everyone a change to be revered as an authority on any given topic.  Yet the massive growth of online social networking leaves us with millions of users fighting for a chance to be heard, better connect with friends and utilize social networking to the fullest possible potential.
That’s a lot of users to manage and control.  Equally as important, that’s a lot of data to compile, analyze and regulat e.

The need for content regulation is just one of the many growing pains of a democratic web forum.  In order to curb distasteful behavior such as bot spams and other social network abuse, the social networks themselves must find a way to systematically rid of as much of this as possible.  Distinguishing between the good and the bad is something that’s difficult to automate, even with the help of user-generated reporting options.  The need for a very human touch to social network regulation is something social networks will have to consider as they grow and grow and grow.

Many of the major social networks have a variety of options for a user seeking customer service for a particular need.  The use of help forums, FAQs, automated email replies and the like can be helpful for basic stuff.  More complicated matters, such as a misappropriated banning from a network for perceived bot behavior is often frustrating for victimized users as they are typically unable to contact an actual person at their respective social network.

Depending on the actual social network, users will find themselves more cncerned about their terms of use and their options for acceptable behavior.  As social networks become more interconnected, issues surrounding privacy and the considerations for deeming something as spam or other forms of abusive or adverse behavior will need to be reconsidered on a regular basis.

This is an Ongoing Issue

Networks such as Facebook have already been dealing with such issues, and they don’t pertain to users only.  Third party app developers are sometimes more frustrated than most end users when finding acceptable ways in which to leverage large social networking platforms to access and communicate with the end users.  The problem for social networks is that the constant review and updating of their terms means a system for handing down rules that acts more like an authoritarian ruling than a democratic process.

Perhaps the most interesting twist in this all is the fact that many social networking platforms are being readily used by brands for customer service purposes.  The very social networks that need to better leverage social networking for customer service reasons are heavily used for this very reason by other brands and companies.  Could this all boil down to a social network needing to be able to eat its own dog food, experiencing an introspective use of its own product?  That would be some serious research and development, and it may be necessary.

For some reason, web-based companies with a heavy emphasis on technological products feel the need to maintain this motif throughout their entire service.  That means a reiteration of its technological prowess through the employment of non-human interaction with its consumers. 

Granted, many big brands have to move towards a similar strategy, but social networks in particular have a basis for increased communication with its user base already installed.  Itself. 

Will the big social networks be able to further step up to the plate as they continue to grow, merge with more mainstream technologies and products, and increase their regulatory updates?