Super Bowl XLV: The Social Media Huddle

Tom Fox, Dallas News photo

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers are stoking the passions of millions on Facebook. Athletes are tweeting out Super Bowl party plans.

And, according to Theodore Kim at  dallasnews.com, companies from Coca-Cola  to Mercedes-Benz USA have unveiled elaborate social media strategies that just a few years ago might have seemed nonsensical.

Consider Super Bowl XLV in Arlington the Social Media Super Bowl, the first in which tools like Facebook and Twitter will play such a central role in advertising, promotions and fandom.

Social media is by no means a recent phenomenon. Yet only in recent years has it gained the kind of mainstream foothold on Madison Avenue and among fans that has turned it into a transformational force. It has, in essence, changed how fans, companies and athletes interact with each other.

Virtually every entity — from the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee to the Southern Steel Fan Club of North Texas — has a Facebook or Twitter page. Often both.

An estimated 700 million people worldwide are on Facebook or Twitter or both. The Super Bowl in Dallas could set new milestones.

Read more here.