One of the most interesting trends in Twitter this year is watching how quickly business adapted to it. I'll be re-capping posts about how companies are taking up (or not taking up) social media for the purpose of marketing, research and customer service. Below is the story (originally published October 14 on Examiner.com) of how I learned firsthand just how Twitter had entered into the business world:

Not only is social media a great tool for consumers to hold companies accountable, it’s also a great tool for companies to see what the “buzz” is about their products. Southwest Airlines, for instance, has a six-person team responsible for monitoring and participating in social media, according to The Wall Street Journal.

I recently learned firsthand how closely companies are monitoring Twitter. To make a long story short, I booked plane tickets about seven months ago through Orbitz. My flights are jointly operated (in an arrangement I still don’t totally understand) by U.S. Airways and United Airlines. Somehow wires were crossed and two weeks before my trip home to be the maid of honor in my best friend’s wedding, I’m told my flight was re-routed and I’d be stopping in Washington, D.C. Hm, I don’t think so, I thought.

As I was peddling through customer service reps for a couple hours, I decided to “live tweet” my problem. Well, as soon as I tweeted that I’d never buy from @Orbitz again, I received a call from a corporate customer service representative, who took over my problem and resolved it in a day. She told me she was calling directly in response to my tweet.

I learned that Twitter is one way to spread the word about a product or service, and can aid in getting a problem resolved. Of course, it might depend on the company. For instance, I also mentioned @usairways and @UnitedAirlines in tweets, but haven’t heard from either. U.S. Airways looks pretty inactive, but United posts daily. Perhaps airlines and other giant compaies are just too bogged down in customer complaints to care about each mishap.