Erik Qualman's Blog, page 693
March 20, 2011
Tweets estimate U.S. missile costs at over $100 milllion today #Libya
Following #Libya on Twitter supplies great information about the war in Libya including the latest on the missiles fired from the UN coalition
The U.S. as part of the UN Coalitions mandate for a no-fly zone on Libya launched 112 Tomahawk missiles at Libya's anti-aircraft guns early this morning. Shortly thereafter we have seen wonderful information being supplied real-time via twitter.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer tweeted: "Each Tomahwak cruise missile costs roughly $1 million. US launched 100+ against #Libya targest. You do the math.
An earlier post from @cnnbrk said 110 missles fired #Libya from U.S., British ships.
It's not even noon in the U.S. and the country has already spent an unforeseen $100 million. Freedom is expensive.
Missiles fired on Libya by UN coalition
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Sneezing Baby Panda eclipses 100 million views
(Video: Watch this video on the post page)
The well-known sneezing baby panda video (above) recently eclipsed 100 million views which hopefully helps raise awareness around why these beloved animals need to remain on this planet.
Social Good: Get involved with WWF (World Wildlife Fund)
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March 18, 2011
Boston Bridge Fire – Explosion Engulfs Bridge [Video]
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Cambridge, MA: At approximately 11:47 am today a large fire broke out and engulfed portions of the Charlestown Bridge on the outskirts of Boston. Flames reached as high as thirty feet. As a result of the Charlestown Bridge Fire black acrid smoke billowed across other main Boston highways obscuring vision for drivers completely (see video).
(Video: Watch this video on the post page)
The Charlestown Bridge is a main artery of traffic getting people from Charlestown to Cambridge and Boston. Making the matter worse is that traffic had been routed from downtown Boston to this bridge due to construction. There is no time table on how long the bridge will be closed as a result of the fire. It is also was right next to the commuter trains and Boston T system. It could prove to be a very difficult travel day for many Bostonians.
Interesting enough is that I along with several other hundred people were right next to the scene when this happened and we all had phones or flip cameras to quickly report and post on the event. I just performed a bunch of searches on Google relevant to this event and no results are showing thirty minutes after it occurred. This stresses the dilemma that Google faces since there are already hundreds of posts on Twitter and Facebook.
The good news is it appears that nobody was hurt or injured at this point and we hope that this remains the case.
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March 17, 2011
Jalen Rose Twitter Account Blows Up over 'Uncle Tom' Comments
Jalen Rose is a former NBA player and current NBA analyst. He is probably best known for being a part of the Michigan Fab 5 back in the early 90′s. Now Rose has an understanding of how real-time Twitter is when you are in the middle of something controversial.
ESPN just ran a documentary on the Fab 5 of which Rose is an executive producer. In the documentary Rose calls African American players that play basketball at Duke "Uncle Toms" which is very strong slang for "selling out." Rose goes on to mention famous Duke player Grant Hill. Grant Hill responded via a long New York Times article.
The interesting thing is that Rose doesn't seem to be backing off his comments as a 17-year-old in the documentary. One such post on Twitter is:
For those MOANING about how something or someone was portrayed in the doc note that it was FRAMED from 1991-1993 not 2011 #quit crying
It will be interesting if this thing dies down or heats up. If it heats up and Rose can keep his job it will work out in his favor as more people will probably watch the Fab 5 documentary.
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March 14, 2011
Chrysler Fires Agency over F*** Tweet
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Chrysler was a shocked as anyone to find this tweet coming from their Twitter account:
This Chrylser tweet resulted in the firing of Chrysler's agency
"I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to fucking drive." The tweet was posted by an employee of New Media Strategies – the company Chrysler employed to help them with social media.
This employee was fired by New Media Strategies and then the agency suffered the same fate as Chrysler let them go.
The employee mistakenly thought he was posting this to his personal Twitter account rather than the Chrysler account.
As I've professed all along, you need to act as if your mother is watching you. Assume that whatever you post will be seen by everyone. Then, if you do make a minor mistake (e.g. posting to the wrong account) the damage is minimal.
Also this should wake companies up to taking the majority of their social media activity in-house. This was not good timing for Chrysler whose new slogan is "Imported from Detroit."
Being a Detroit native myself I can say that the drivers are great compared to the other cities I've visited and lived in.
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March 11, 2011
#tsunami trends on Twitter @RedCross accepting donations
#tsunami is trending on Twitter today as a result of the mass destruction resulting from the 8.9 scale earthquake and massive tsunami in Japan. The RedCross was quick to react on Twitter by posting the below tweets:
@RedCross is taking donations for the victims of the Japan Tsunami and getting the word out via Twitter
Social Good: If you'd like to help the victims in Japan text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10
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Japan Tsunami Video
(Video: Watch this video on the post page)
An 8.9 earthquake rocks Japan, but the resulting Japanese Tsunami causes even more damage. Check out the devastating destruction that is caused in the above video by the Earthquake and Tsunami.
Social Good: If you'd like to help the victims in Japan the text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10
Japan Tsunami 2011 sweeps across Japan causing massive destruction
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Social Media Tip of The Week
This week we want to focus on Twitter, and specifically a twitter strategy you can implement immediately.
Too many of us hide behind our avatars on Twitter. It is easier to be voyeuristic and watch your feed only commenting when it is comfortable. What is the point of twitter if not to engage? This week's tip is to do just that, engage. I challenge you to look at the way you use Twitter and ask "am I getting my money's worth?"
Twitter, as we all know, is free but in the words of Cage the Elephant, "there ain't nothing in this world for free." The opportunity cost of using Twitter is huge. The time spent looking through your feed, carrying on conversations in the cloud and trying to connect are all for not unless there is purpose.
My challenge, take those newly formed relationships OFFline. I have introduced this into my strategy over the past few months and the results have been mind blowing. Look at Twitter as a 24/7 networking event then apply the same logic as you would to a physical event. Meet new people and try to take the relationship to a cup of coffee or a meeting.
I realize that in many circumstances geographic separation will prevent this, but Skype is a powerful tool too. The idea is to bring the relationship off Twitter – you can say a lot in 140 characters, but this is not a relationship. What you will find is that you will form deeper, more meaningful relationships when you implement this strategy.
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Digital Marketing Video: Fail forward, fail fast, fail better
(Video: Watch this video on the post page)
Greetings from Oslo Norway. I'm here giving the keynote at Web Forum 2011. It struck me as I watched some Norwegian toddlers attempting to ice skate for the first time that we can learn something from them. They kept falling down, but they immediately got back up and tried again. We need to do the same when it comes to digital marketing. We need to fail forward, fail fast, fail better. The only way to increase our rate of learning is to increase our rate of failure.
Also, kids were helping each other get back up on their skates. Adults can't do it alone digitally so look for and take that helping hand when needed and more importantly provide that helping hand without being asked.
Since we are speaking of ice skating and hockey, you should definitely check out hockey fanatic Guy Kawasaki's latest book Enchantment. It is a must read.
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Digital Marketing: Fail forward, fail fast, fail better
(Video: Watch this video on the post page)
Greetings from Oslo Norway. I'm here giving the keynote at Web Forum 2011. It struck me as I watched some Norwegian toddlers attempting to ice skate for the first time that we can learn something from them. They kept falling down, but they immediately got back up and tried again. We need to do the same when it comes to digital marketing. We need to fail forward, fail fast, fail better. The only way to increase our rate of learning is to increase our rate of failure.
Also, kids were helping each other get back up on their skates. Adults can't do it alone digitally so look for and take that helping hand when needed and more importantly provide that helping hand without being asked.
Since we are speaking of ice skating and hockey, you should definitely check out hockey fanatic Guy Kawasaki's latest book Enchantment. It is a must read.
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