• BusinessWeek, Monday, September 8, 2008 11:30 AM

A single Twitter message sent by a person with thousands of followers can hold tremendous sway, says BusinessWeek. As such, brands are increasingly following influential users of the microblogging service. Think about it: A negative tweet about a product or service can be read nearly instantly by hundreds of thousands of people. But a positive interaction with a representative of the brand or service provider can also help change the influential person's perspective.

The likes of JetBlue, Comcast, and H&R Block have all recognized Twitter's potential in providing customer service, the report says, adding that tools like Tweetscan and Summize (now simply known as Twitter's search tool) make it easy to follow what's being said about any brand. It's also free.

But not all Twitter users want corporate America following them. "It has potential for delivering business value, clearly, but at the same time there are some risks," says Ray Valdes, a Gartner research director, who adds that brands monitoring Twitter users can come across as "a little creepy." However, in some cases, the right follow-up message can earn them a second chance, as one Southwest customer found out after his flight was delayed and his luggage was lost. After tweeting his displeasure, Southwest sent him the following message: "Sorry to hear about your flight -- weather was terrible in the NE. Hope you give us a 2nd chance to prove that Southwest = Awesomeness." Later, in a blog post, the user called the message both "cool and frightening at the same time."

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