How Twitter Helped the Discovery Channel During a Hostage Crisis
When a gunman took three hostages at Discovery Communications headquarters (home of the Discovery Channel) on September 1, 2010, hundreds of news outlets reported the crisis.
Yet mainstream media was not the first to break the story. An employee inside the Silver Spring, Maryland facility took a photo of an armed law enforcement official using a mobile phone and posted it on Twitpic. 
Help Name the Social Media Examiner Mascot
Our little dude is one step closer to getting a real name! And literally more than 500 names were suggested.
We poured through the entire list and came up with five that we really like. Now we need your help picking the final name. Keep reading to see the finalists and how you can vote.
But first, I’d like to give a public tip of the hat to the core team that helped Social Media Examiner become the site it is today.
How Social Media Helped Cisco Shave $100,000+ Off a Product Launch
As early as 2008, networking giant Cisco was well along in its social media evolution. Back then you could find the company on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Yet something was missing – the hard business case for social media. Like most companies, Cisco knew it was benefiting from social media, but it couldn’t prove it.
The launch of a new router using only social media would provide the proof Cisco’s marketers were seeking.
How Microsoft Xbox Uses Twitter to Reduce Support Costs
For Microsoft’s Xbox support team, there’s no such thing as unwanted messages on Twitter – no matter how vulgar they may be.
So why is a $58 billion company spending time listening to off-color tweets?
Because “foul-mouthed tweens” just might be the first tip-off of a major service outage. Before any calls or emails come in, the support team can catch a tweet and get technical folks on the task.
This article reveals how the Xbox team relies on Twitter to reduce support costs.
Social Media Smackdown: WWE Headlocks Social Media
Think you know what World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is all about? You might be surprised to read about WWE’s emerging social media story.
But first, it’s easy to pigeonhole WWE as fringe cable channel with a small group of die-hard fans, but you likely don’t know all the facts…
WWE.com outperformed ABC.com, CBS.com, NBC.com, NASCAR.com, PerezHilton.com, NHL.com and UFC.com. More people attended Wrestlemania XXVI than the Super Bowl, held in the same stadium.
“WWE” ranked #3 for most searches on Yahoo! in 2009, behind only Michael Jackson and Twilight. (As I write this, WWE is the top-trending search term on Yahoo!) And WWE.com has more than 14 million average monthly unique visitors worldwide.
More significantly, WWE’s own social networking site has 610,000 registered users who participate in forums, comment on blogs, and consume the millions of photos and videos that WWE updates continuously.
How Social Media Saved Lake Arrowhead When City Ad Budgets Ran Dry
Picturesque Lake Arrowhead, just 90 miles east of Los Angeles, has long been a peaceful refuge for celebrities, film executives and families. More than 120 movie studios have filmed here and the area hosts several big-draw events every year.
Yet the lake community does NOT have a rock-star budget.
With a small percentage of county tax dollars, the Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce must support two visitor centers, multiple events and promotion for the area.
How One Man Used Social Media to Raise $91,000 for Charity
The Big 4-0. For most, turning 40 inspires something big.
For Danny Brown, it wasn’t a sports car, Vegas trip or marathon run. He was inspired to set a different challenge for himself—to bring people together and raise money for worthy causes. And the response was very unexpected…
To celebrate his 40th, Brown and his wife spent a few days at Niagara Falls. Taking a break at a local café, they noticed an elderly woman come in by herself and order ice cream.
Brown wondered about her story.
After he and his wife headed home, Brown couldn’t stop thinking about the lonely-looking woman in the café—and regretted not talking with her.
