Exercise 1: Social Media Branding By American Eagle Outfitters

American Eagle Outfitters is a clothing company that has delved into the world of social media tools wholeheartedly. The company's Twitter account has a following of 81,981 people and their Facebook page is Liked by 5,358,977 individuals. AE Twitter consisted mainly of announcements regarding their Labor Day sales but also had many responses to Twitter-posed questions, such as:

american_eagle @xxxxx Can you DM me your email address and order number, I'll have someone contact you.

Many of the other Twitter responses were more lighthearted and conversational in tone, such as complimenting the owner's newest pair of jeans or that they love the new look as shown via a TwitPic link. The Tweets targeted at American Eagle Outfitters also ranged from discussing newly bought clothing, suggesting ideas like an AE mobile phone application, or complaining of an interaction that they had with an employee or store. This sort of interaction builds a relationship between American Eagle and those who use their products, especially as consumers receive replies from AE on a constant basis.

A Twitter search for American Eagle Outfitters mainly resulted in users stating the address of the branch that they were currently visiting. Otherwise, like the company's Facebook page and Twitter, the Tweets revolved around sales and deals as well as new purchases. Unlike online discussion forums dedicated to American Eagle Outfitters, Twitter allows users to Tweet about a number of topics in a single venue.

Similarly, American Eagle's Facebook page lists announcements of sales which are commented on by their followers. While there is the ability to comment, followers cannot write on the company's Facebook wall in a manner that is highlighted to the extend of the company's posts. Instead, they can only comment on American Eagle posts which are minimized unless expanded by the user (See "View all __ comments"). Unlike Twitter, this Facebook page does not create a dialogue between company and consumers but it does do its job in providing an outlet for people to discuss, via commenting, American Eagle events and products.

Lastly, I visited the American Eagle Outfitter website and blog.The blog Made to Last focuses on music that is played in the branches as well as musicians that American Eagle "likes." What surprised me was the complete lack of comments on the blog posts which is the complete opposite to the number of Facebook comments. That there were no comments for the first four or five pages of blog posts shows that there are either not many followers or that the readers deign to comment, which is highly unlikely.