You know, I've never heard a pax or gate agent say they didn't appreciate it. But I have often heard them say they did.
Example. There's bad weather causing a ground delay at LGA. People pull up the weather and see that weather is fine in NYC and start getting ****ed because they think they're being lied to. You ask the agent if they would like you to make an announcement about it. They are more than happy to give you the mike. You tell the pax that, while the weather is nice in NYC, it stinks in DC area. Your arrival corridor goes through DC. Thus your flight, along with a bunch of other flights are rerouted and there's a traffic backup. People aren't happy about the delay, but they are no longer POed at the airline.
Again, it's called customer service. But you go ahead and hide in your cockpit and keep wondering why you don't get a call to a major.