According to a recent study conducted on 2,000 people commissioned by Siteopia 80 percent of Brits admit their Facebook profile are “fake”. Common cheats include misleading profile pictures, fake relationship statuses, tagging locations never visited (10%+), link to articles to appear smart (25%), fabricated status updates, etc. Apparently a large portion of the respondents feel a relentless pressure to give the impression their lives is more exciting than what they actually live on a daily basis.
Like in real life there seems to be an element of vanity and social recognition involved. Thus more than 10% of respondents admitted how important Facebook is to let people know how much they’ve achieved and 25% acknowledged their profile page was the place for them to show off everything that’s positive about them. 25% also admit having edited a photo of themselves to look better. 25% feel a sense of pride at the number of friends and followers they’ve gained…
Is this what social media is all about? A virtual world where people deliberately lie to others in a desperate attempt to seek social recognition and satisfy their ego. Since businesses are made of people what impact does that have on businesses? 50% of the respondents to the survey have blocked or hidden updates from friends because they were fake and way too far from what they know that person is like in real life…
Once again the research commissioned by Siteopia shows us how careful a brand must be when dealing with social media. Building a good reputation – building a brand – takes time. On social media than can be done by building authority which leads to advocacy and ultimately trust e.g. engagement. The social media presence of the brand must be up to what the business actually delivers so followers and fans have the confidence the business delivers what is says on the tin.
Research source:
http://www.siteopia.com/blog/siteopia-quoted-face-crooks