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[Please note, as this conversation has the tendency to get emotional and very technical at the same time, I would like to state up front that I do not take any specific or direct side in the discussion.

The other is more of a thinking and strategic issue surrounding online marketing, interlocking ecosystems of information and reputation management. This is where a lot of the heated discussions take place. While you read them here, however, please try to look beyond the specific companies and personalities and consider the systems (personal, technological and economic) involved and how they rely on each other.]

As I recently let loose in Twitter, there’s an entire education to be had in the comment thread on Galen Ward’s post about Trulia and their linking policy over at the Bloodhound Blog. This post was created to back up that statement. Consider this a pivot-table applied to qualitative data.

I’ve prepared a syllabus for you. Please note that not all of the answers to the exam questions will be found directly in the comment threads, but enough clues for you to determine the majority of the answers are present. Some questions (particularly in the second semester) will require creative thinking and problem solving extending beyond the comment thread on the Ward’s post. Outside resources are encouraged in all semesters.

• The first semester is a practical one, with hands-on worthwhile info on which you may be able to act. There are a few though-pieces in there, but it is primarily a “lab” class.
• The second semester is more of a seminar where you examine a controversial issue not for it’s controversy but for its structure.
• A laid back summer session has been assigned as well.

Enjoy. And if you post your answers to the exams publicly, let me know so I can send you a certificate of some sort.

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You’ve read the Twitter resources page. Or maybe your Twitter-fu is already rocking the free world: you’re tweeting left and you’re tweeing right. You’re following people who post insightful-tweets. You’re looking for the next thing to do with this whole micro-blogging thought-exchange.

Enter: Hashtags.

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Twitter for Real Estate now has it’s own page serving as a roundup instead of the archived post. The page will be updated as new information crosses my desk. Recent additions include tools lists, a few usage ideas and discussions of TwitterLocal.

Considering the plunge into social media? Check out this world map of social networking website usage over at Le Monde. The map is in French but I bet you’ll get the idea.

How do you make use of this information besides practicing your French? Well one way, if you have a global market,  is to consider targeting your audience where they hang out. In particular note how Europe’s use of social networking varies from our own.

Another thing to look at is domestic (meaning US in my case) usage of social networking sites. Here in the US, Facebook gets a lot of attention but is significantly behind MySpace. Does that mean you should ditch your Facebook account and head over to MySpace? Depends. Different sites are used by different audiences and for different purposes. Do some research to see if your target audience is more prevalent on whichever site you devote your time to.

Also keep an eye on the future. Orkut, the dominating social networking site of Latin America, is operated by Google. Google has announced a system by which various social networking sites (including MySpace and LinkedIn but conspicuously not including Facebook) can share data to make a more seamless social networking experience. That’s a complicated way to say “you don’t have to log in and make 20 different profiles.”

The social networking landscape will change. A number of years ago we were all using SixDegrees, then a rash of LiveJournal/blog systems, then Friendster which imploded as MySpace picked up. Facebook looks poised to take over from there. The thing to keep an eye on, if you intend to use these systems for marketing, is make sure you’re devoting the most time/resources to the site that has the most leads for your business, which may not be the most popular.