If you're a frequent reader, you know Comcast has had an abysmal customer service record. The cable giant expanded too quickly, and often gets the wrong kind of attention for everything from inappropriate napping to kitten torture. But we've also explored that Comcast is trying very hard to shore up poor support and their tarnished image through a massive new effort that involves new hires, a new public blog, better interaction with the press and heavy Twitter use.

The efforts have paid dividends. Comcast's customer satisfaction score has seen a jump in the American Customer Satisfaction Index rankings, where the carrier traditionally battles with Charter for last place. Last quarter, Comcast increased their score from 54 to 59, while Charter set a new record low for any company with 51.

According to the ACSI, Twitter takes the lion's share of credit for Comcast's improvement, helping the carrier burn through barriers and address consumers directly. "Comcast has apparently benefited by monitoring customer feedback on blogs and via the social networking site Twitter in order to identify disgruntled customers and address customer dissatisfaction on a one-to-one basis," says the organization.

Comcast took the lead at embracing Twitter by hiring Frank Eliason and his crew, Frank telling us that Comcast is dedicated to scaling their Twitter presence as customers begin to realize they can often bypass traditional support gridlock.

ISPs both large and small have since followed Comcast's lead. Qwest, AT&T, Verizon -- and even smaller operators like Windstream Communications now have a constant customer support, public relations and even lobbying presence on the social networking service.

Interestingly, Comcast saw a two point drop in customer satisfaction for their digital voice phone service, for which they still rank last. While Comcast certainly deserves credit for beginning to crawl out of the rankings basement, we'd like to ask you what you think: are you seeing an improvement in customer service at the cable giant? Are you seeing a kinder, gentler Comcast?