Here’s an interesting story about how Comcast is following a broad collection of blogs, forums, and other social media and trying to get on top of customer gripes posted there:

“From a sparse desk dominated by two computer screens in the new Comcast Center here, Mr. Eliason uses readily available online tools to monitor public comments on blogs, message boards and social networks for any mention of Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company. When he sees a complaint like Mr. Dilbeck’s, he contacts the source to try to defuse the problem.” (from Complaining Bloggers Have a Cable Company’s Ear)

I applaud this but it is a dicey proposition which can backfire:

“Still, others agree with Mr. Dilbeck, the University of Washington student, that the online outreach is annoying. “Comcast Is Watching Us,” declared a blog called Contempt for the World in February, when Mr. Eliason started wading into the comment sections of blogs.” (from Complaining Bloggers Have a Cable Company’s Ear)

I wrote recently in my own personal blog about the risks and challenges:

When hearing the people and effort that this client had deployed to try to respond to this, and how helpless they felt, i did feel sympathy. Once a thread about your company, or your product, or yourself, starts up, and gets interesting, it gathers a crowd, maybe because they agree, but just as easily because the attacker is funny or outrageous or clever in an evil way. (from Asymmetrical conflict in the blogosphere)

Also here are some thoughts about how BlogBridge itself could be used very effectively for this purpose, “Reputation Monitoring”:

“I’ve been following the topic of reputation monitoring for a little while now, because BlogBridge is an ideal and powerful tool to use in the service of Reputation monitoring and management. Here’s an interesting liveblog of a panel about Reputation Monitoring and Management at WebmasterWorld by Tamar Weinberg of techpedia fame.” (from BlogBridge Blog)