Ericsson Exec: 'Consumers Aren't Stupid' About Social Media

BARCELONA—Twitter and Facebook may non want to acknowledge they are media companies, but consumers already get it, co-ordinate to Dr. Pernilla Jonsson, Head of the Ericsson Consumer and Industry Lab. PCMag spoke to Jonsson at Mobile World Congress here this calendar week almost consumer trust, mobile commerce, and why smartphones are then damn addictive.

MWC Bug Art "Consumers are aware of social media condign like a broadcast media," Jonsson says. At that place are notwithstanding a lot of people who see social media as solely a peer-to-peer system, just that is irresolute. Jonsson says her enquiry shows "half" of consumers view social media as a broadcasting media that can be manipulated by outside parties.

"Consumers are not stupid," Jonsson says. "They are enlightened we have this sort of thing, and they will be increasingly disquisitional well-nigh the information that is posted on social media."

At the aforementioned time that social media is existence challenged, Jonsson says this could be an opportunity for traditional publishers to regain some dominance and audience. "This might be a renaissance for the publisher and the make," Jonsson says. "If yous trust the source, y'all won't have a trouble with the information."

Engineering firms and telcos besides take to work to maintain consumer trust in a way they have never done before. Co-ordinate to Jonsson, their business organization models depend on information technology. Her research shows that consumers remain very concerned about privacy. "Consumers are worried virtually privacy issues, merely it is a very diffused threat," Jonsson says.

Vendors that succeed must principal iii key things: permissibility, transparency, and the perception of benefits. "Consumers are very, very aware that the benefits of working with ICT solutions, smartphones, and giving away information from usage, and and then on, outweigh the risk."

Some other one of those risks is engineering science habit. According to a recent study, almost 47 percent of US adults recall their kids are "fond" to technology. Jonsson recently conducted her own survey, admitting slightly less comprehensive.

"I went to my son'due south school and lectured to his class of ix-year-olds and I asked them 'Exercise your parents think that you are all addicted to your smartphones and iPads?' Everyone raised their hand. Then I asked them, 'How many of y'all think that your parents are addicted to their computers and their smartphones?' And everybody raised their hands. We tend to run into kids doing this, just really really don't ask ourselves."

Jonsson doesn't call back she's addicted, but admits that her phone is the "remote control to life," which is "why we take such a hard time lifting our gaze and seeing that there is another time to come out there to catch."

Watch our entire interview with Jonsson above. And check out more than Fast Frontward episodes on Apple tree Podcasts, Google Play, and YouTube.

About Dan Costa

Dan Costa

Dan Costa served as Editor-in-Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis from 2022 to 2022. In that time, he oversaw the editorial operations for PCMag.com, AskMen.com, ExtremeTech.com, and Geek.com. Dan has appeared on local, national, and international news programs, including CNN, MSNBC, FOX, ABC, and NBC discussing new technologies and their bear on. He was as well the host of the Fast Forward podcast, where he interviewed CEOs, technologists, and artists near living in the future, available on Apple tree Podcasts and anywhere fine podcasts are given away for complimentary.