There’s a lot of talk (and type) about how “social media is the new customer service”. Let’s consider that for a moment.

In the same way many people use the term “media” incorrectly as a singular, there may be as many or more people mistaken about what constitutes a “social medium”. Buzzwords and grammatical errors aside, all media are inherently social. Calling anything a “social medium” is redundant. (There is no such thing as an anti-social medium!)

Man invented media because he needed them to help us socialize and spread culture beyond the confines of vocalization and gestures. From cave-paintings and hieroglyphics to the alphabet and printing press; from the telephone and fax machine to VOIP and SMS, media are invented, optimized and improved upon to serve the spread of our culture. Interactive or "social" media allow better fidelity and more immediacy – which are huge improvements over more primitive media, but still serve the same basic purpose when it comes to customer service.

Merchants needed ways to learn what satisfied or dissatisfied their customers, and couldn’t always ask in person at the point of purchase. Customer service has always depended on “social” media to achieve its purpose. But it’s not a medium, it’s an experience. That said, I think the intention of the quote was more like: there are many new means to achieve better customer service, and many of those are proving to be digital media. It’s no secret that our culture has gradually shifted from mass-media to media-of-the-masses. Read just one page of Consumerist and it’s clear that customers aren’t experiencing better service solely because of interactive media. Customer service representatives don’t magically become more sociable just because they have new technology at their disposal. It's not the medium, but you use it that matters.

Buzzwords have the tendency to obscure more meaning than they grant. “Social” media are not replacing customer service, but they are opportunities to improve it. The right media for a given company depends on the type of transaction or service provided. For example, when I had an issue with the repair warranty on a home computer, I called an 800 number and spoke to a customer service representative directly. A website’s FAQs or company Facebook profile is useless if my computer is broken. Once my computer was fixed by a repairman who came to my home, I got a follow-up call to make sure I was happy, and an email summary of the repair. That was the single best customer service experience I’ve ever had.

Likewise, if I can’t find a store in a mall, I’ll check the directory map near the entrance. If I’m at the pub with friends and I have a random question I want answered before our next round arrives, I’ll call or text chacha.com (thanks for the tip, Liz). Customer service is about being there and being useful, wherever and whenever it is that your customers are in need.