Brand managers and marketers everywhere are trying to get a grasp on social media, social networking and the social revolution. In the survival of the fittest world of advertising, “fit” now means connected, and not as in, “having an online presence,” but as in, “with consumers in their social world on-line and off-.”

But because the social web is so new, very little qualitative and quantitative research exists that give marketers and brand managers the numeric back-up they need to make decisions. Sure, eMarketer.com kicks ass, and several other companies do good work with small samples and good publicity, but the simple fact remains that because the landscape is new and changes so rapidly, we haven’t quite solved the puzzle of the social web and what it means, or costs, to be involved here.