专家警告：脸书创造出虚荣一代

专家警告：脸书创造出虚荣一代 (北京时间2011年8月01日 转载)          BBC中文网报导          英国牛津大学教授格林菲尔德认为，脸书（Facebook）及推特（Twitter）创造出虚荣一代。这一代自我迷恋、注意力短暂，而且像小孩一样，渴望生活中大小事都不断得到他人的回应。          由于沉迷社交网站，让使用者出现"认同危机"，和蹒跚学步的幼儿一样想得到大人关注，就像是在说："妈妈，看我，我做了这个。"          药理学教授格林菲尔德认为，在网络世界中逐渐扩增的"友谊"，就像是一个大型的网络游戏，而这种游戏已有效的改变了人的大脑思维模式。          这个许多人参与的大型游戏，造成使用者的注意力降低、渴望即时的满足感、口语表达能力变差，因为他们只需要用眼睛来沟通。          全世界有超过7亿5000万人使用脸书，分享照片及影片，并定期更新动态消息及想法。          此外，还有数百万加入推特微博的网民，会在网站上发表有关自己的短文、照片等讯息。          格林菲尔德教授表示：某些脸书用户觉得，自己需要成为他人每天关注及仰慕的"小名人"。          这些人以脸书为出发点来做事情，因为他们只能仰赖"认识他们的人"，来为自己下定义。          格林菲尔德说，这仿佛是居住在虚拟的世界，在这个世界里，重要的是别人对你的看法，或是（他们是否）能点击你。          本文来源：BBC中文网

20 Most Hated Companies in America By Christopher Elliott | July 26, 2011 http://www.bnet.com/blog/customer-management/20-most-hated-companies-in-america/812 If you've flown anywhere recently, then you already know what the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) numbers reveal: American consumers hate airlines. Specifically, they can't stand Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, US Airways, American Airlines and Continental Airlines – in that order. With 5 airlines in the top 10, the industry flew away with top honors. 1. Pepco Holdings (54) 2. Delta Air Lines (56) 3. Time Warner Cable (59) 4. Comcast (59) 5. Charter Communications (59) 6. United Airlines (61) 7. US Airways (62) 8. American Airlines (63) 9. Continental (64) 10. UnitedHealth (65) 11. Long Island Power Authority (65) 12. LA Department of Water & Power (66) 13. Facebook.com (66) 14. AT&T Mobility (66) 15. PG&E (67) 16. JPMorgan Chase (67) 17. DISH Network (67) 18. Cox Communications (67) 19. Bank of America (68) 20. AT&T (U-verse) (68) I asked the ACSI's managing director, David VanAmburg, to share his thoughts on the losers. "Just about all of the very bottom companies – those scoring below 65 — are airlines and cable companies, which industry-wide are challenged to provide satisfying experiences for a number of reasons," he says. Those reasons include the "high perceived cost coupled with low perceived service reliability," he explained. How about Pepco, an electric service provider to customers in Washington and Maryland? "Pepco makes the list this time because of its reliability record over the past year, which was particularly troublesome for the utility," VanAmburg told me. "But it should be noted Pepco's never before been in this territory and was a 70 as recently as a year ago." Just to put these scores into some perspective, if these companies were students, they'd be getting "Ds" – or failing the class. The companies are under performers in every sense of the word. But the way, I'm not the first to call these companies America's most hated, and I probably won't be the last. It is truly remarkable that the airlines can under perform every other industry, including cable TV, wireless, public utilities, and sleazy banks. It takes a lot of work to distinguish yourself as America's most hated industry, but by golly, I think the airlines have done it. Of course, now that Continental Airlines has merged with United Airlines, there will be one less carrier on this list. Perhaps another airline will rise – or fall – to the occasion?

Mileage Plus to be the loyalty program for the new United Airlines

Mileage Plus to be the loyalty program for the new United Airlines Friday, 1 July 2011 United Continental Holdings, Inc. announced that Mileage Plus will be the loyalty program for its wholly owned subsidiaries United Airlines and Continental Airlines beginning in 2012. Moving to a single loyalty program is a significant milestone in the integration of the two airlines and will provide a more consistent travel experience for customers. United will announce complete details of the Mileage Plus program – including elite levels, qualifications and benefits, lifetime benefits, and other program developments that will take effect in 2012 – in the coming months. Continental OnePass miles and status safe Continental's OnePass loyalty program will end on Dec. 31, 2011. United will automatically enroll OnePass members in Mileage Plus and deposit into Mileage Plus award miles equal to their OnePass award miles balance. OnePass members' 2011 OnePass elite qualifying activity will be recognized fully in their 2012 Mileage Plus elite status. Chase OnePass credit cards, including OnePass Plus and Presidential Plus, will continue to earn miles and benefits in the Mileage Plus program. In the meantime, United and Continental customers who are currently enrolled in both Mileage Plus and OnePass may link their accounts, enabling them to combine their miles and earn awards faster this year. Launched in 1981, Mileage Plus is the world's most rewarding loyalty program, with a wide array of travel, credit card and retail partners. Mileage Plus members may earn elite travel benefits, including Premier Access airport services, and have access to one of the most extensive merchandise redemption programs in the industry. With the new United's leading global route network, no other airline offers more destinations for award travel. Mileage Plus received the Frequent Traveler award for best airline elite program in 2011, the second year in a row. In addition, readers of Global Traveler magazine voted Mileage Plus best frequent flyer program in 2010 for the seventh year in a row.