In books like Here Comes Everybody and What Would Google Do?, social media are presumed to empower and engage all consumers equally. Because these new technologies lower (or virtually remove) the cost of creating and sharing content, it has been assumed that anyone and everyone is involved in the process.
Clay Shirky describes an episode wherein irate travellers, stuck on a plane for an excruciatingly long delay, organized a mass protest over the internet. Soon, the world knew of their ordeal, and the airline looked horrible as a result.
Jeff Jarvis tells the story about PC manufacturer Dell ignoring customers and losing market share as disappointed customers began sharing horror stories of faulty laptops via blogs and comments. Eventually, the company realized what was happening, and began to engage disgruntled ex- and current customers, going so far as to have top executives write their own blogs and respond directly to questions and complaints.
The observation that both authors (and many others) make is that social media will force institutions to provide better service, because the information infrastructure acts as a mechanism for constant feedback and monitoring. While I do not disagree with this idea, the reality of the situation has some nuance that is only now becoming apparent.
