UPDATE: Amazon was back up when I published this post… for a minute or two… now it’s back down.  Keep the $30,864.20 A MINUTE counting.

If you haven’t already seen it already… the Amazon.com website is down today for a while (I’m not sure how long).

For a company this big who relies so heavily on their website… this is a big deal.

How Big of A Deal?

• 2nd Quarter 2008 Projected Revenues for Amazon = $4 Billion
• That’s $44,444,444 a Day
• $1,851,851 an Hour
• $30,864.20 a Minute
• $514.40 a Second

How Long Was Amazon.com Down?

It is tough to tell how long Amazon.com was down for… but for all of those people who say that Twitter isn’t good for anything… I did a search at Summize.com to see when the Twitter stream started chatting about it (which is usually pretty close to real time nowadays).

Here’s what I found:

I ran this search on Summize.com at about 12:10 pm PST… not more than 5 minutes after Amazon.com came back online… which means that Amazon.com was down for right around 2 hours (can’t get it exact right now). When I ran this search, there were more than 600 mentions of the Amazon.com downtime (likely way more now).

So, if Amazon.com was down for about 2 hours, this flub might have cost them $3,703,702 in lost revenues (according to my rough social media ninja computing skills … and a ton of semi-negative chatter on the internet. Amazon could actually have used social media to turn this around and lesson the impact.

So Here It Is…

This post has a few lessons:

1. How important uptime is for ecommerce websites (pretty obvious) and how important a backup plan is in cases like these
2. How useful the social media is in fact finding and getting real-time news that companies and the rest of us can use to jump on trends. Look at Twitter… Twitter is more and more becoming a first line as far as breaking news comes… why aren’t all journalists on Twitter again?
3. Throughout all of this… Amazon.com didn’t come out and comfort their customers at all. Not even a message on the error page, no spokesperson on Twitter telling people what was going on, NOTHING. Big and small companies everywhere need to embrace the social media if they want to keep ahead of the crap talking curve online… get out there when the internet starts chatting… be a voice of comfort for your customers.

Facebook has been on it hard for the last couple months to create a platform for it’s users that let’s us chat back and forth in real-time.

Like I wrote in my last post about Twitter vs. Facebook… people like REAL-TIME… and I really believe it’s a huge key in the success of any type of communication tool.

I’m sure if you could send someone a package through FedEx in “real-time” (i.e. – some type of teleporter for packages… “When you absolutely have to get it there in 5 seconds”), you’d rather do that than send it by FedEx overnight… which would take 8 hours to get there.

We are an impulse and instant gratification nation… and Facebook has finally done the right thing to quench this thirst that people have.

Facebook Chat Launches This Week…

Thanks to Mashable and DoshDosh (via Twitter) for the heads up on the Facebook Chat announcement. Basically, the Facebook blog says that the new Facebook Chat will be a bit like this:

• A 1 to 1 chat (not 1 to many like Twitter) similar to AIM or Gtalk
• Easy collapsible frame so you can get it out of your way when you’re not using it
• Does not save your chat convo’s for very long… and you can immediately delete the chat history if you want
• Cool updates right in the Chat Bar of the mini-feed of the friend you are chatting w/ (kinda cool sounding… let’s see how useful it is)

There are a few other things. Head over to the Facebook blog to learn a bit more.

Overall…

Overall, I’m excited that Facebook is getting with the trend and going real-time with some of their things.

Where the Facebook chat will be cool is now you can go to one place to have an instant 1 on 1 chat with your friends. Nowadays, most of my friends and those in my network are on Facebook… but it sometimes sucks trying to instant message them because some use AIM… others use Gtalk… others use MSN Chat… and on and on.

I simply don’t want to have 3 or 4 chat clients up and running all of the time… pain in the ass. But, now I can chat w/ my friends all right there in Facebook… and can get rid of my other chat clients one by one (maybe… we’ll see .

Leading up to this launch people were speculating what the Facebook chat was going to be about… and so far it doesn’t seem like it will really directly compete with Twitter in the 1 to many “crowd convo” style.

So, I’m excited to see what the Facebook chat has in store… and see how I can integrate it into the rest of my overall Social Media toolbox to build and maintain better relationships with my friends and network.

Hey, shoot me a message in Facebook Chat once it launches… I’d love to hear from you and see what you think about it… and whether you like it or not.

Friend me up <<

What is social media all about?

No really… what is social media all about at it’s core?

That’s right… it’s to help people like you and me connect with each other, catch up with each other, communicate in 2 way conversations, find like-minded people… and build a community around ourselves (online and OFFLINE) of people we want to associate with.

Simple as that.

Facebook as a Way to Build Bonds with People

Facebook is an awesome platform… way better than Myspace (in my opinion) at really building bonds with people that are more than just voyeuristic attempts to see peoples profile pictures and sell music (you know that’s a huge part of what the myspace crowd is about… don’t kid yourself).

The whole Facebook idea is modeled to “connect people with friends and others who work, study and live around them.”. That idea inherently is a better model to build strong bonds than the Myspace model of, “MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends’ friends.“.

So, Myspace is like the cool nightclub where you go with a few of your friends. It’s cool… a bit edgy… is as much about impressing other people as it is about being real w/ who you are… and is the hang out for people looking to just have some fun.

To me, Facebook is quite a bit different (hold on… I’ll get to the Twitter thing in a bit). Facebook is more like the networking event, conference, or fun gathering with friends that you go to so you can catch up with old friends… be introduced to new like-minded people… and be the real you.

Myspace is kinda like the immature and less serious version of Facebook (don’t get me wrong… there are huge marketing opportunities on Myspace… just stay with me here)… and Facebook is a place that you can come hang out and find like-minded people and share your world with them.

Facebook is more centered to your current networks, interests, and those of your friends. More targeted you might say.

With this environment… better bonds with your Facebook friends are more inherent and you are reminded every time you sign in about what your friends recently did on Facebook through the updates section. Cool stuff.

Where Facebook Misses The Boat…

Like I mentioned, Facebook is an awesome application and is a great way to build a network of LIKE-MINDED people and easily keep up on what people have been doing on Facebook.

But… just like the evolution of every other type of media… 2 way communication in a time delayed format isn’t as powerful and “sticky” as 2 way communication in a REAL TIME format.

I don’t know about you… but I live in real time.

1. When I go to the grocery store I talk to the person standing in front of me in line in real time.
2. When I go to the gym and chat with some workout buddies… talking in real time.
3. When I go to a networking event (like Young Professionals of Portland… great networking … once again… talking in real time.

If human beings really enjoyed time delayed communication more than real time communication wouldn’t we all just pass notes to each other all day… and spend our lives on email?

Hmmmm…

Picking Up Where Facebook Leaves Off… Forming Huge Bonds w/ Twitter

Okay, imagine this. Bear with me because this can either be cool or way corny.

You are in a bar… and you have two groups of friends.

One group is sitting in a booth with name badges, they have some pictures of things they just did on the table, a cool white board that you can write messages on to them, some fun little games that they ask you to play with them… and a pile of paper airplanes that you both write private messages on and fly back to one and other. This group of friends can’t talk and they don’t have fancy dancy phones that have internet.

All of the stuff you need to keep in touch with your friends and keep that bond there… right?

Okay… in another booth you have another group of friends who are in a normal and natural conversation. They’re talking back and forth (no paper airplanes or white boards) telling each other what they’ve been up to… showing you funny videos on their Iphone right there in front of you… you bring out your Iphone and show them a great article you just found… basically you guys are having a natural conversation about everyday stuff.

You stay in that bar for a couple hours and bounce back and forth between the two groups of friends. After a while you have 45 paper airplanes sitting in front of you that you need to open… and you’ve already spent like 15 minutes writing messages on paper airplanes and flying them back to your FB friends… not to mention all of the messages on the white boards that you need to answer back.

Building quite the bond huh?

Delayed time communication coupled with multiple ways to communicate back and forth with your friends

So… you get fed up… leave the 45 paper airplanes there and tell your friends to join the other table… the one that is just sitting there talking naturally in real time. They do… and you have a real conversation with them (in real time) and actually get to build a great bond with your friends because now communication is so easy that your friends are telling you little stuff that they wouldn’t have told you before…

Fancy Dancy Formula Time…

Easy Real Time 2 Way Communication = More Long-Tail Communications = Greater Bond

 

Easy Real Time Communication Is Where It’s At…

Just like the little formula I whipped up says… the easier you can communicate… and the more like a natural conversation your communication is… the stronger the bond you are able to grow with someone.

Ya… instant messaging has been around for a while and is a great form of instant two way communication.

But…

That’s 1 to 1 communication… and it would take up way too much of your time to shoot off a message to all of your 432 friends to see what the heck they are up to… so you can keep building that bond with them.

Right now, Twitter is the next evolution in easy two way real time communication… 1 to many.

You can see what people are doing right now… and let other people know what you’re doing right now. The simple fact that you get to learn what your friends are doing “between the conversations” gives you an inside look into their lives… and you mind says, “well, if I’m important enough to know that he just got a hair cut… or is walking through LAX right now and wants to have a beer w/ me… I must be cool!”.

Also, don’t forget the fact that inherent in real time communication is the fact that there are more messages being sent between the people talking… than there is with delayed communication.

More Messages = More Top of Mind Placement of YOU = Better Bond

Not to mention the subliminal message that comes across when you click the button to “Follow” someone on Twitter… versus simply “Add as a Friend” in Facebook. I mean… the definition of “follow” is… “To go in the direction of; be guided by”… what kind of message are you sending your subconscious when you choose that you want to FOLLOW someone… pretty powerful as far as creating and building a bond.

So… Follow Me On Twitter…

… and let’s figure out the best ways to DO GOOD on the internet… build better bonds… and help more people.

A last note… Twitter is only a stepping stone to something better… and Facebook will surely build something Twitterish onto their platform. Humans are social beings by nature… and the closer we can get to being able to intimately interact with people (both 1 to 1 and 1 to many) in a “real world-like” setting so we can build stronger bonds with more people… the more the entire social media and internet marketing game is going to change.

Just be sure you evolve along with it… and don’t get stuck in the delayed communication mind-set in your marketing, brand building, and LIVING.

Oh ya… really… one last note. Follow Me On Twitter

If you haven’t seen the hoopla in the past couple weeks about the Twitter color wars… it’s pretty entertaining stuff. As of today, I’m officially on the @VeryGreenTeam.

If you’re not a “twitter-head” as Mashable put it… you probably have no clue what I’m talking about… and to tell you the truth you probably really don’t care either.

What’s the whole Twitter color war thing anyway??

Well… really don’t know yet. From the looks of it… it’s being really pushed by top guys like Gary Vaynerchuk, Ze Frank, and some other dudes big time in social media.

Basically, there are a whole bunch of teams named after different colors (verygreenteam, red, green, yellow, blue, orange, pink, gold, off-white, plaid, fuscia, clear, white, purple, stripe and puce (thanks Mashable for this rundown on the teams!) ZeFrank linked up a new webpage that looks like it’ll be dedicated to the whole Color Wars 2008 thing… this is crazy!! But I like it!!

I got to thinking about this whole color war thing and it goes way beyond just some crazy (and kinda stupid) games on Twitter.

This whole thing is showing in real time how Twitter and other social media can be used to control crowds and build excitement.

Crazy stuff when you think about it…

This is Crowd Control 2.0.

This is cool stuff… but at least so far it’s the good guys using the Twitter crowd for good (i.e. Gary V’s @santagaryvee thing that is basically free Woot… awesome way to further build his brand!)

I know… no one is being controlled… and no one is against their own will (sometimes I think I am though because I’m so addicted to Twitter and Web 2.0)…

… but, think about it like a big ol’ wave at a professional baseball stadium. When crowds are involved… and some outgoing people get creative and want to have some fun… it gets contagious and crowds can be told basically what to do (up to a certain point

Before Web 2.0 (and really… apps like Twitter and Facebook) an online version of the wave (I’m talking real time here… not forwarded emails and stuff) was pretty much impossible because of the time lag and non-interactivity of the crowds.

Now… this whole colorwars thing is showing how crowds of people can interact in real time in creative ways like online roshambo… and if we wanted to… we could create some type of “wave” competition to see which team can (in real time) keep the wave going the longest (I have a few ideas on how we can do this from the technical side).

Wow… more and more the offline world is being replicated by the online world.

Can you imagine the possibilities for companies and brands (big and small) to start grassroots viral competitions like this on these new social media sites to drive traffic and subliminally build their brand at the same time??

Wow!

Ya, it would take some sneaky thinking to get it so it didn’t appear to be coming from a commercial entity… but I can definitely see the possibilities… my mind is spinning right now.

How do you participate in the Twitter Color Wars?

I’ll tell you what. There is only one team in my opinion… the @verygreenteam is the only way to go.

Why?

Green is a pretty cool color. Money is green, trees are green, golf courses are green (at least they should be!), and Gary V. and ZeFrank are leading the charge on the green team.

I met up w/ Gary V. in Orlando in February and chatted w/ him for a while about biz and life (with some other cool people)… he’s an awesome guy and knows his stuff when it comes to building a brand and using social media to spread his good word.

Anyhow, I wrote this post for two reasons… to let ya’ all know about the Twitter ColorWars (for fun)… and to show you how little games like these are real time experiments in Crowd Control 2.0… bringing real time interaction on traditionally offline activities… online.

This is only the start… and us little guys are the ones who will pioneer the advances on the web… while the big guys will continue to be the late adapters.

So… head over and follow me on Twitter… pick your team… and join in on the war!