Did you know that 15 percent of 16-24 year olds prefer to interact with customer service on social media instead of any other method?

Indeed, the younger demographic are very much leading the way in this social charge – a heady 71 percent say that the first thing they do when they have a problem with a product is go online, and 7 percent of this group immediately complain about it on social media.

Overall, 4 percent of all adults turn to Twitter when they have a problem product, a number which is likely to increase dramatically as the network grows, although brands themselves need to get their priorities straight – a recent survey has shown that 60 percent of companies don’t respond to customers via social media, even when asked a direct question.

While this shift towards social customer support is of note, traditional channels are still very important – 57 percent of online customers turn to search engines to solve their support issues.

(Source: Our Social Times. Support image via Shutterstock.)