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Societal web sites like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace attracting large volumes of people commenting and interacting regularly across all of those platforms and consumers have become extremely vocal in their on-line activity.

But the larger brands are only beginning to wake up to both the possibilities from a marketing point of view and the risks and opportunities from a customer service point of view, claims Buist, creator of The Societal Web.

"When we look at the immediacy and brevity of the communication we're left with a reality that means our communication style has to change significantly.  Brands that are engaged in this arena are learning fast and making mistakes too as they try and keep up with the constant pace of this new form of communication," says Buist.

Buist says that historically, consumers had an opportunity to complain to suppliers and companies from whom they bought services and the opportunities to do so quickly and to a large audience were small.

But organisations are finding that when poor customer service (perceived or otherwise) is felt by an individual, there is a tendency for them to comment on that service almost immediately and to many.
 
"In some examples, the information relating to the service the customer is receiving is being transmitted online at the same time as the activity that's causing the concern.  Some brands have now become aware of the possibility to monitor and track conversations about their brand online and in real time," says Buist.

Buist is also concerned that the immediacy of response leaves businesses with little or no time to react and warns that instant reactions are high-risk, as the implications of words may not have been fully thought through. 

"Twitter messages are very short in style and for brands, that means that there is little opportunity to explain, either for the consumer about what's causing the problem, or for the brand themselves in terms of how they intend to deal with it. However the best brands are dealing with this issue by engaging in the conversation and actively seeking feedback and demonstrating that they are listening to it," says Buist.