Companies should use Twitter and Facebook to be trusted by consumers

According to a new survey commissioned by Fleishman-Hillard and conducted with market research firm Harris Interactive, people trust more those companies who use microblogging websites like Twitter to provide real-time responses.

The research showed that about 75% of consumers polled say they view companies who microblog sending frequent messages on sites like Twitter or updating their status on social networks like Facebook as more trustworthy than those who don’t.

At the same time, consumers were not keen on being influenced by web sources perceived to have a vested interest in touting products, with 76 percent saying they were less likely to trust information from a blogger getting free samples from companies they write about.