The social media sector’s average score of 70 out of 100 — calculated for the first time this year — is the lowest of any e-business category measured by The American Customer Satisfaction Index. Other categories included Internet News & Information (average score 74) and Internet Portals & Search Engines (average score 77).

Reporter Mark Dolliver explains:

Why the poor scores for Facebook (now on the threshold of enlisting its 500 millionth user) and MySpace? “Customers are not satisfied with their experience on these sites,” says the report. “When asked what they like least about Facebook, survey respondents gave answers including privacy and security concerns, the technology that controls news feeds, advertising, the constant and predictable interface changes, spam, navigation troubles, annoying applications with constant notifications, and functionality, to name a few.”

Facebook’s score of 64 puts it in the bottom 5 percent of industries measured by the study, right alongside airlines and cable providers.

One thing I would be sure to factor in, though, is the fact that social networks offer a far more complex service than other Internet businesses, such as news sites or search engines. You go to Google to search for things. If you find them, you like Google. You go to MSNBC for news updates. If you find them, you like MSNBC.

But the scope of social networking is something that changes by the month. A few years back, it was all about connecting with friends. Today, social networks have become comprehensive, multimedia hubs for our online lives.

Customer satisfaction seems destined to be low with sites like Facebook, which is constantly redefining what services it offers and how it makes those services available. But if Facebook decided to stop expanding and simply become better at what it already does, satisfaction would surely increase — at the cost of innovation and long-term viability.

So will we ever be able to truly love a site whose very nature requires that it constantly adapt with our culture and technology? Factor in an audience of half a billion and Silicon Valley’s skeleton-staffing approach to customer service, and it’s not hard to see why satisfaction is a goal that might never be achieved.

David Griner | E-mail | Twitter | LinkedIn | SlideShare

David Griner

When 5,400 digital professionals gather on Wednesday, June 9, to kick off the annual Internet Retailer Conference and Expo in Chicago, one of the first featured speakers will be Luckie & Company’s own David Griner.

Griner, Luckie’s Social Media Strategist, was asked by event coordinators to share his perspectives on recent social media promotions in the retail industry. He will be presenting alongside Dan Shust, director of emerging media for Resource Interactive in Columbus, Ohio. Their discussion is titled “Two Thumbs Up (Or Down) On Social Media Efforts.”

“It’s a really exciting time to be talking to this audience,” Griner said. “Facebook, FourSquare and mobile applications are redefining what it means to ‘shop online,’ and I’m sure this will be a lively discussion.”

You can read more about the presentation — and even see some cool case studies that didn’t quite make the cut — over on Luckie’s social media blog, The Social Path.

David Griner | E-mail | Twitter | LinkedIn | SlideShare

David Stutts | E-mail | Twitter | Blog | SlideShare | LinkedIn

Second Jimmy Choo is going to run a real time treasure hunt around London during the next few weeks. Jimmy Choo representatives will use FourSquare to check-in at fashionable London hangouts and then hang around for just a short period of time. The first person to catch-up with them gets the sought after shoes.

It is going to be an interesting summer as we watch how other brands unlock opportunity on FourSquare.

David Stutts | E-mail | Twitter | Blog | SlideShare | LinkedIn

The following is a press release excerpt from our Alabama Tourism client regarding a strong social media program Luckie helped concept and develop:

Alabama Tourism has launched a Facebook fan page for 215 cities participating in the “Year of Small Towns and Downtowns.” The Great Alabama Homecoming makes it easy to become a fan of the towns, find information about homecoming events and RSVP for the celebrations.

The Facebook site provides an innovative “Great Alabama Homecoming” state map that highlights participating towns for quick access to each event. Each city is located on the map with a historic marker icon. A simple click on the icon takes visitors to the fan pages of each town. More than 12,000 Facebook users have already become fans of the small towns and several cities already have more than 1,000 fans.

You can read the full release here.

David Stutts | E-mail | Twitter | Blog | SlideShare | LinkedIn

While Debbie only had time for a few dozen of the questions submitted, we’d like to thank all those who participated and made the chat such a success. If you missed out, check the transcript below to see how it went for yourself:

Here’s how it works. Through Nixle’s community information service, granular, location-based information is pushed out directly to the community by SMS, Web & e-mail. Neighborhood residents can broadcast locally targeted news, events & recommendations. Additionally, thanks to a partnership with Nlets (who provide messaging services for law enforcement agencies), Nixle says it is the first authenticated & secure service for connecting municipal agencies, schools & community organizations with residents in real time. This means police departments can send alerts and advisories to residents, right from their police terminals.

Nixle is offered at no cost to government agencies, community organizations and consumers. Local residents can decide how much information they want to receive in real time; and all messages are archived online for later access.

Since Nixle launched publicly about a year ago, more than 3,800 public safety and community agencies across the United States have begun using it.

David Stutts | E-mail | Twitter | Blog | SlideShare | LinkedIn