Farewell @MarsPhoenix

In all the talk about social media, building relationships and using the ‘Net to get your message out, one of the best stories right now concerns MarsPhoenix. This robot was sent to Mars in order to gather data and samples to send back to earth, and as part of the project, MarsPhoenix got a Twitter account. Its tweets soon became irresistible to a legion of followers; before the robot’s untimely demise, it had become the seventh most followed persona on Twitter with 38,000 followers!

I was one of those who began following MarsPhoenix, intrigued by learning firsthand about the red planet. I got my husband hooked, too, and we’d often talk about the latest tweet – we were both excited when MarsPhoenix found ice on Mars, proof that there was water on the planet. That day’s tweet was: “Are you ready to celebrate? Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, *WATER ICE* on Mars! w00t!!! Best day ever!!”

Now of course the robot did not tweet; a NASA scientist on earth was responsible for the effort, which was an experiment. And as an experiment it worked – it was an innovative and interesting way to use a social networking site to communicate important scientific discoveries to thousands of people. Followers could also ask questions, which scientists answered, and we were captivated by the give and take relationship. Read this overview at MarketingVOX.

Alas, it was not destined to last. A couple of weeks ago, MarsPhoenix tweeted that it was powering down and eventually would be frozen shut. As sad followers tweeted back, MarsPhoenix sent uplifting messages thanking followers for their support and vowing to stay active as long as possible. However, yesterday brought one last message: “01010100 01110010 01101001 01110101 01101101 01110000 01101000 <3." I thought it was simply random code that indicated the robot had shut down for good, but Wired magazine explained that MarsPhoenix had signed off with: “Triumph.”

It was a triumph – both for science and social media. Goodbye MarsPhoenix, we’ll miss you. In the meantime, I’ve found hope in following @MarsRovers on Twitter, who is still roaming the red planet on six wheels. Science and social media has never been so much fun!

Posted by Paula Krapf of Author Marketing Experts, Inc.

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