Brands that use microloblogging sites like Twitter to provide real time responses to the public are winning a higher degree of trust from consumers according to a survey conducted with market research from Harris Interactive.

Some 75% of people surveyed said they view that microblog-seeding short frequent messages on sites like Twitter or status updates on social networks like Facebook as more deserving of their trust than those that do not.

The findings on Twitter are particulary notable in a year where many leading corporations found themselves in crisis mode, from BP's role in the Gulf aid disaster to recalls from Toyota Motor Corp and Johnson&Johnson on a viral campaign against new diapers from Procter & Gamble on Facebook.

Reuters