Starbucks social media guru Brad Nelson spoke to the American Marketing Association's Puget Sound chapter at lunch today, to which he also brought Via samples (although probably not as many as Starbucks will give out at its NASCAR debut this weekend).

Nelson, a former Starbucks barista who now tweets for the coffee giant, talked about how it's gone in 16 months from being a social media laughingstock to the most popular brand on Facebook.

Some insights Nelson (at the podium in the top photo and on the right in the lower one) shared with the marketing folks:

• "If it's not discussed on Twitter, it probably doesn't matter."


• He's been frustrated when flying airlines that don't tweet, "because you want to ask a question [and can't]."


• He wouldn't say whether Starbucks' sales went up on July 21, the day it gave away 1.5 million pastries after promoting the giveaway only on its web site, Twitter and Facebook.


• In the corporate world, people will try to write your tweets for you. Don't let them.


• Use your real name, not the company's.


• Be real/human and conversational, not preachy.


• Don't overload readers. A couple updates in the morning and a couple in the afternoon are enough.


• Don't yell. "If you write in all caps on Twitter, then there better be a fire."


• In talking about iPhones: "I would much rather text my friends than talk to them."
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• Twitter is about customer service (and is replacing customer service phone calls), marketing and public relations.


• His tweets are not vetted by Starbucks' PR department.


• The future could include sites like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Brightkite.