An industry survey conducted by Tucow's reseller services group, OpenSRS, at HostingCon 2008 in Chicago shows that email and domain resellers are not taking advantage of the enormous marketplace opened up by social networks. Of survey respondents, three-fourths use social networks like Facebook, Twitter and FriendFeed to share information with friends and family. But a full 81 percent don't see these services as a threat to their businesses.
"While the Web hosting industry does not view social networks as a threat to its business, people are going to functional-hosts for services that allow them to share information online. This demonstrates that there are opportunities for Web hosts to tap into consumers who embrace social networks - but these opportunities are being overlooked by the very industry that knows the Internet best," said Ken Schafer, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing for Tucows. "It's important that as the Web hosting industry moves forward, we understand that Internet users are seeking a customized, personalized, Internet experience for both personal and professional reasons. Ultimately, it's about customer relationships. Providers and resellers need to work together to provide the support, services and infrastructure that give users the best experience."
The survey also showed that while half of domain resellers have no complaints with their provider, those that did cited poor communication or support and lack of the full range of services their customers want - such as the ease of communication consumer find in their networks.
