Frank Eliason formerly of @ComcastCares talks customer service and moving on

In the pantheon of social media, Frank Eliason is certainly something of a celebrity.

He was the start of a social media craze from Comcast, chasing down and responding to online complaints from customers. In the history book of social media, Eliason, who popularized Twitter handle @ComcastCares, will be among the forefathers of the movement.

After beginning in September 2007, his role was buffeted with a team of Comcast tweeters and blog readers and outreach specialists.

Nearly as well known as complaints about Comcast service were the signs of that Eliason’s team was listening. It was a strange juxtaposition, an attempt to move a mountain of negative perception with a relatively small team of persistent web-based professionals.

And Eliason was at the start of what has become accepted as the norm.

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Devine + Powers marketing firm launches social media arm

Jeff Gibbard remembers Friendster.

Except, when the social network launched in 2003, Gibbard wasn’t thinking about how valuable it could be to a business trying to reach customers.

He just knew it was going to be big. That thought never left his mind as he jumped to MySpace and later Facebook — which just last week passed an epic 500 million user milestone — always head of the curve.

“I saw the power that the Web has at connecting people, reconnecting with someone or connecting with someone you met recently,” he says. “Prior to these technologies, we didn’t have that.”

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Links: Local currency movement, Amish entrepreneurs and more

DEFINITE READS

• Freelancer John Steele writes for Keystone Edge on the growing local currency movement, in which three suburban communities are encouraging the use of a town-specific form of money to develop local purchases.
• Keystone Edge also has a Q&A with Erik Wesner, the author of a new book that includes insight on vibrant entrepreneurial Amish communities.

Below, Science Cheerleader launches new project, GSI Commerce scores (or some other basketball pun) and more.

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At Early Stage East: Delivering real value with social media

This post originally ran on Philly VC Deal Lawyer a blog about Philly startups by Christopher McDemus. It is re-purposed here with permission, as part of a partnership.

I recently attended the Early Stage East venture conference. Amongst all of the great presenting companies, ESE had a few panels on a variety of topics. I had the chance to sit in and listen to the Emerging Media Technologies panel discussion. On the panel were:

• Matt Goddard of R2Integrated;
• Jeff Pulver of 140Conf;
• Steven Rosenbaum of Magnify.net; and
• Yuli Ziv of Style Coalition and MyItThings.com.

The panel did a great job discussing, among other things, the use of social media and how it drives customer behavior and markets. Many great points were made by the panel members, but in particular a small piece of the conversation left a mark with me – that is, the difference between an authentic use of social media in a business versus a strategy lacking in depth.

In every market and industry, you’ll find companies that can identify trends and jump on the bandwagon quickly, however some of these companies do so in a manner that fails the “genuine” test.

Read the rest here.

How would Twitter have changed the Constitutional Convention?

If Twitter was around in 1787, maybe we’d have a little more insight into the secret proceedings of the Constitutional Convention where our forefathers signed that all-important ancient document.

But at least we can pretend and be enlightened with a little history while we’re at it.

In anticipation of the 223rd anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, Independence Mall’s National Constitution Center is tweeting daily fictional observations as a secret delegate of the convention. [Full Disclosure: Technically Philly's staff is in discussions on collaboration with the National Constitution Center].

The identify of the secret delegate—whose thus far has noted that in 1787 Philadelphia was still as diverse place as it is now and that no, Rhode Island was not present for the convention—will be announced on Constitution Day, September 17. Folks can email their guesses to organizers.

Some of the tweets were sent by an iPhone, which adds another dimension to the imaginative tweets:

Would Ben Franklin have been a Droid or an iPhone guy?

Ten most followed Philadelphia Twitter users

Roots drummer Questlove is Philadelphia's most followed Twitter user as of March 2010. Graph courtesy of TwitterCounter.com.

It’s tough to say just what it all means, but there’s some fascination with Twitter follower counts.

It’s a metric of some kind. Not quite popularity or power or purpose. Influence, yes, though many a spam account accrues tens of thousands of followers. So, take that as our warning. Twitter follower counts don’t necessarily mean jack, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

So we took a quick spin to meet who was out there representing Philadelphia in Twitter conversations. Who are the 10 most followed Twitter users listing Philadelphia as their home?

Below, you find out.

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Event Highlights for March 22-28, 2010

Philadelphia in the spring time: the sun, the birds OHMYGOD ITS A FLASH MOB.

Social media has been getting a bad rap lately thanks to Twitter-organized mobs, but that shouldn’t stop you from attending our social media-heavy event schedule this week.

First, learn about the intricacy of social media law, then take advantage of our wonderful weather of late by searching around Old City for charity. Lastly, spend an easy Sunday morning learning how to install Linux.

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Friday Q&A: Dr. Jarret Brachman talks JihadJane and al-Qaida online media strategy

al-Qaida's official media arm al-Sahab distributes its video on sites like YouTube

Colleen LaRose, known more infamously as JihadJane, appeared before federal court in Philadelphia Thursday and pleaded not guilty to charges that she allegedly plotted to kill a Swedish cartoonist and recruited supporters online using social networking sites.

According to documents unsealed by the Department of Justice last week, the suburban Philadelphia woman is alleged to have posted jihadist video messages on YouTube. Folks at grassroots counterterrorism Web sites like The Jawa Report say that LaRose had dozens of accounts suspended on the site and would open new accounts to repost video content. The case raises important questions about al-Qaida’s online media strategy and its move to more public social networking sites for recruitment.

Dr. Jarret Brachman, a professor at the North Dakota State University, tracks terrorism efforts online as an academic and as a senior consultant to federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, offering advice about al-Qaida’s media strategies. Brachman pens a blog about the work he does and issues around terrorism and counterterrorism.

We spoke to Brachman about al-Qaida’s increasing presence on more public social networking sites, after the jump.

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Two City Council members want to sue Twitter, Facebook over flash mob

Councilman Frank DiCicco

Councilmembers Frank DiCicco and James F. Kenney are seeking the possibility of suing social media sites like Twitter or Facebook if they indeed played a role in Tuesday’s Market East flash mob, as CNET reported this week.

The councilmen requested permission from Mayor Michael Nutter to take legal action to force a mechanism to stop events like the flash mob of this week.

On Tuesday, roughly 150 teens may have used text messaging and social media sites to coordinate a chaotic rampage from the Gallery mall throughout Market Street, pushing, kicking and vandalizing their way toward the Macy’s near City Hall and an inevitable snowball fight.

No serious injuries were reported, though 16 arrests were made, according to the Inquirer.

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Twitter tracking Local Trends in Philadelphia, 14 other cities

What was trending in Philadelphia Thursday night on Twitter. Click to enlarge.

Tracking the dominant conversations in Philadelphia’s Twitter communities has gotten quite a bit easier.

As the microblogging rock star announced on its company blog this week, in addition to tracking what phrases, words and hashtags are being most frequently used worldwide at a given time on Twitter, the trends can now be localized to 15 cities, including Philadelphia, or one of six countries.

This gives you the option to see while, yes, last night the top trending item in Philadelphia was stimulating conversation over the meme ‘I’m not the type to…,” the worldwide conversation trended more to “Best Sex songs.”

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