Exxon Mobil Gets Brand-Jacked On Twitter

Yet another story in the geek press illuminating the fact that even Fortune 10 companies aren't taking the Internet seriously enough.

A recent Computerworld story tells the tale of how a user on microblogging service Twitter set up a page with the company's name, logo and related images. Soon (and everything on Twitter happens lightning fast) the blogger (who named herself "Janet at ExxonMobil" had hundreds of people following her posts.

For me, the most interesting part of the article came after spokesman Alan Jeffers disavowed Janet as "not an authorized person to speak on behalf of the company," and added that "Exxon Mobil hasn't officially started using any social networking sites to communicate with customers."

This is a company that fills out ALL 10 spots in the Top 10 Quarterly Earnings of ALL TIME and spends untold millions to influence public opinion via traditional advertising, and yet they can't see far enough forward into media's future to spend $50,000 for a social media director? No wonder we're looking forward to the post-petroleum economy.

(Update: Here's a list of smart companies -- are you on it?)