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Disruptology

Aaron Uhrmacher on Social Media Communications

Michael Jackson and the Formation of Online CommunitiesJune 26

Like most of you, I was saddened by the news of Michael Jackson’s death yesterday. I was in the West Village and had trouble getting reception on my iPhone (as usual) when a guy walked passed talking on his phone. He said to the person on the other end,  ”Michael Jackson died today. How did you not hear? Aren’t you on Twitter?”

Walking home, I was more attuned than usual to the conversations taking place around me. I heard people sharing the news with friends on their phones, playing his music in their cars and congregating in Washington Square Park to mourn together.

This same process of information gathering and ultimately mourning took place online as well. It was amazing to watch how quickly the community organized itself to share updates as they became available and used their respective social networks to publicly participate in the unfolding drama.

Some interesting statistics:

• There were over 550 updates to his Wikipedia page over the course of 24 hours
• MJ tributes made u

How Dell Generated $3 million in Sales Using TwitterJune 24

There was an exciting announcement recently from the folks at Dell that the company has surpassed $3 million in sales as a result of promotions offered via the @DellOutlet Twitter account. While many will likely tout this as proof of “social media ROI,” there’s a lot more to the story.

Here’s what I think Dell did to generate that type of revenue. If your company can mimic this model, you’ll probably be able to make your first million using Twitter as well:

FAIL
Years before any other company had to consider the implications of ignoring customers online, Jeff Jarvis and an army of unsatisfied Dell users coined the term, “Dell Hell,” forcing the company to listen, even if they weren’t ready.

FAIL AGAIN
When Dell finally launched its first blog in July 2006, which was titled One2One, the company immediately changed its name to Direct2Dell due to the existence of a certain pornography site bearing the same name. A minor embarrassment, but one that was easily overlooked. Dell was at last talking with its cu

10 Social Media Tasks for Summer InternsMay 6

It’s that time of year when companies are looking to hire interns to do the menial tasks typically relegated to its entry level employees. When I visit many companies, the interns do little more than flip through magazines (”coverage searches”), cold call media (”pitching”) or conduct multiple Google searches for their clients (”research”).

But what if a communications team actually used its interns to learn more about this social media thing everyone’s talking about? Here are ten ways I might consider putting summer interns to work:

1. Social Media Overviews: Instruct each intern to create a 30 minute presentation on the social media platform of his/her choice that includes an overview, how its used and how your business might participate. There’s a good example here.

2. Competitive Analysis: Ask an intern to build a full social media profile analysis of a competitor or client. This might include what platforms they use, how they participate and some metrics do determine how they are successful. There’s a good example here.

3. Account creation/customization: If college students l

ANALYSIS: The Skittles Social Media ExperimentMarch 3

I like Skittles. When I’m at an airport or a gas station, Skittles is ALWAYS my second choice if I can’t find a pack of Starburst (another Mars Company product, apparently). So of course I was interested in the brouhaha that erupted after Skittles replaced their website with a little widget linking visitors to several social media platforms. If you want to learn more about how it works, you can read this post from Russ Adams .

HISTORY OF THE SKITTLES WEBSITE

The Skittles website over the last couple of years has not evolved much, so while this is a wild departure from its past efforts, it didn’t have much to lose.

The site primarily relied on Flash from almost the beginning, so it never had great Search Engine Optimization (SEO). As you can see, the site was geared towards a younger audience and it looks like the brand tried hard to not only look cool, but to appeal to a younger demographic.

The new site (or interactive engagement) is resonating right now with an older demographic more interested in the tech than the candy.

ADVANTAGES

It’s different. I like that Skittles (through their vendor Agency.co

The Three Phases of Robert ScobleFebruary 10

Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr

I’ve lately fallen out of love with Robert Scoble . If I were to meet him in person, I’d say, "It’s not me, it’s you." But since that opportunity is unlikely to present itself anytime soon, I’m going to share this post instead.

PHASE 1: THE MICROSOFT YEARS

When Scoble started broadcasting from within the depths of Microsoft’s corporate headquarters, he was a ray of light on an otherwise overcast Seattle day. He shared with the outside world that which Microsoft was unaware they possessed: a personality. We learned how companies could share their institutional knowledge and, as a result, gain the trust of their community and build new inroads to their brand. We connected with the employees in a way we never connected with the corporate entity.

Scoble showed companies that they should embrace their quirkiness, not hide it. And as a result, he rose to fame as the poster child for corporate transparency and gave rise to the notion