Much has been made of Comcast's use of Twitter to address the company's poor customer service image, though the Associated Press notes that this is simply part of a larger effort by the company to shore up service by monitoring all blogs, social networking sites and even YouTube for angry customers. It's part of a new online response team run by Comcast's Frank Eliason, who tells the AP he's looking for customer-service reps who don't toe the company line. Still, the group says they only contact about 10% of the grumpy customers they find online:The pre-emptive online efforts should help shore up Comcast's traditionally last-placed rankings in most consumer surveys, though the results haven't yet materialized in either the JD Power or ACSI rankings. Much of the angst directed toward Comcast is directed at low quality sloppy subcontracted labor. In the past few years, Comcast subcontractors have been in the news for falling asleep, murder, digging in the wrong yard, blowing up laptops, dishwashers and homes (with people in them), driving vans into children, and even kitten torture.

That said, it's a given that Comcast also employs plenty of fantastic people, many of whom have done very heroic things, from community service to saving people from burning buildings, drowning and collapsing bridges. Still, the negative frequently outweighs the positive (or at least the coverage does), leading to the argument from Comcast supporters that Comcast's size simply contributes to more negative press. The thing is, you don't see massive companies like AT&T or Time Warner Cable as consistently in the headlines for bad behavior. Clearly, somewhere, there's a degree of dysfunction deep within the Comcast apparatus that may need more than a Twitter update.

While Comcast's new outreach program may make people feel better and shore up public perception, it's not clear yet if Comcast is tackling the core reasons angry grandmothers take hammers to Comcast offices. We'll ask you: is Comcast's bad customer reputation a myth or reality? Inflated or accurate? Has the company recently reached out to you? Have Comcast customers noticed customer service improvements?