Behind the scenes with Intel's social media guru

PORTLAND, Ore. - 'Social media' jobs, like the one that Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler wanted to pay someone upwards of $70,000 a year to do before a public outcry forced him to nix the idea, are certainly getting a lot of buzz these days.

There are major companies out there that have entire teams dedicated to social media.  The question is - what do folks who work on those teams do all day?

"I think a lot of people erroneously think I just get to surf the web all day," said Kelly Feller, who works as a Social Media Strategist for Intel Corporation.

You might call Feller, whose work space is nestled among departments like Partner Solutions and Business Tools and Service, Intel's 'social media butterfly.'

Feller's job begins early, like around 6:30 a.m.  At home, she jumps on the computer and logs into the company's Facebook and Twitter accounts, searching for chatter about Intel products.

In some cases, she helps Tweeters get answers, like one guy who said he needed help from the Intel hardware gurus.

"Even though I'm not a hardware guru, I know someone who is," she said.

Feller referred him to an Intel engineer she hoped might solve his problem.

"So he's talking directly to Intel engineers, which may not have been possible before without these kinds of social tools in this new era," she said.

Another part of her job is to reach out to online gripers, like a guy who sent a Tweet telling Intel to get its act together.

"If we're able to help this person find more information and maybe change his mind, it's probably more likely we'll have a greater fan than even before," she said.

Across the office, Market Research Analyst Tony Jones monitors the buzz on the Internet about Intel.  He also gets detailed reports on whether comments about the company's products are positive or negative.

"And this is people who actually cared about it, cared enough to post something online, so it's very rich data," he said.  "And they're brutally honest, which is great."

So how does the average person sitting at home benefit from what Feller and Jones do?

"We're listening," said Jones.  "We're caring about people's opinions and we're paying very close attention to what people say."

On a side note, the Intel employees who use social media to reach customers are required by law to identify themselves as working for Intel.  They are not allowed to go on as a "ghost poster."

And bear in mind, Intel is a private company that, along with other companies like Comcast, Dell and Southwest Airlines, have dedicated social media teams.  That is a lot different than paying for someone to do this with taxpayer money, which is what Wheeler was trying to do.