The case study comes just a week after the Washington Post released a memo to its staff asking writers not to engage on Twitter on behalf of the publication. The decision was made after the Post published a controversial article online on Christianity and homosexuality.

No stranger to controversy, the Colonel has become not just the official Twitter presence of the Chicago Tribune but a PR rep too. After the New York Times wrote a new article that presented the company in an unfavorable light, the Colonel posted a link to a former colleague’s response that got more than 700 clicks. When the Chicago Tribune’s CEO, Randy Michaels stepped down, it was the Colonel who gave the people answers.

While @ColonelTribune is “the more gentlemanly version of @ChicagoTribune,” don’t let the paper hat fool you; he has more than 844, 939 followers to back him up.—DANNI WYSOKI

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2. Garrett Popcorn—While the recipe hasn’t been changed in more than 60 years, Garrett Popcorn has changed the way it engages its audience. @GarrettPopcorn has almost 5,000 followers on Twitter from all over the world and even lets Facebook fans order online.
Facebook: Garrett Popcorn   Twitter: @GarrettPopcorn

3. Berry Chill—You don’t become Chicago’s most popular frozen yogurt spot without daily customer interaction. The official Berry Chill presence on Twitter is Berry Chill’s mascot “Yogi Jones.” Yogi tweets exclusive discounts on Twitter. Check in on Foursquare and receive 10% off your Berry Chill purchase… or just follow their Facebook/Twitter posts during Bears games to be notified about free Berry Chill whenever Devin Hester scores a touchdown!
Facebook: Berry Chill   Twitter: @YogiJones

4. Chicago Blackhawks—Besides bringing home the Stanley Cup, the Chicago Blackhawks won the 2009 “Best Brand Use” Award from the Mashable.com Open Web Awards which reward the very best of social media and the web. While hockey traditionally struggles in popularity, you wouldn’t know it by the nearly 400,000 fans on the Chicago Blackhawks’ Facebook page—that’s more than the Miami Heat, LA Dodgers or New Orleans Saints!
Facebook: Chicago Blackhawks   Twitter: @NHLBlackhawks

5. Akira Chicago—Taking fashion to the streets and to the web, Akira has more than 11,000 fans on Facebook and almost 3,000 followers on Twitter. Akira gave its Fall 2010 Fashion Show attendees an inside look at their latest trends by featuring a scannable QR code on attendees’ tickets.
Facebook: AKIRA Chicago   Twitter: @Akirachicago

6. Foiled Cupcakes—Foiled Cupcakes is a delivery-only cupcake bakery that uses social media sites to get the word out about their exclusive business. Recently featured as a Groupon Deal of the Day, they have more than 6,000 followers on Twitter.
Facebook: Foiled Cupcakes   Twitter: @foiledcupcakes

7. Food Trucks—When lunch time rolls around Chicagoans salivate by their computer screens waiting for Twitter to update them with the location of their favorite food truck. The race was too close to pick just one, but some of our favorites are Gastro Wagon, Meatyballs and Flirty Cupcakes.
Gaztro Wagon Facebook: Gaztro Wagon   Twitter: @Wherezthewagon
Meatballs facebook: Meatyballs Mobile   Twitter: @fossfoodtrucks
Flirty Cupcakes Facebook: Flirty Cupcakes   Twitter: @FlirtyCupcakes

8. The Chicago Theatre—One of the city’s most iconic entertainment venues uses social media to stay in touch with its audience. The Chicago Theatre’s Facebook page lets fans sign up to become an Insider and are encouraged to request events they would like to see perform there.

Facebook: The Chicago Theatre   Twitter: @ChicagoTheatre

9. Metropolis Coffee—The small coffee company has taken a page out of Starbucks’ book and started an aggressive social media campaign. Metropolis Coffee features a blog and photos on their Facebook fan page and even enables fans to buy coffee online all with just a few clicks.
Facebook: Metropolis Coffee

10. Threadless—The Chicago based T-shirt company has more than 165,000 fans on Facebook and followers are encouraged to show and enter contests on their static FBML tabs. As impressive as that is, their Twitter presence is what caught our attention. @Threadless has an amazing number of followers at more than 1 million and climbing.—DANNI WYSOKI
Facebook: Threadless   Twitter: @Threadless

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