Wikipedia has opened the virtual floodgates allowing nearly anyone the opportunity to create and edit content that is viewed by throngs of people worldwide. However, with this form of communication and knowledge-building comes several cues online marketers must take into consideration.

Take into account that Wikipedia has become engaged in a back-and-forth war with spammers who are constantly developing software to combat Wikipedia’s anti-spam efforts. As a result, Wikipedia takes your credibility into very serious consideration when deciding whether or not your edits will remain on the site. As a social networking site, individuals have taken various measures to combat spam. For example, the Wiki Scanner is a program that scans Wikipedia for anonymous edits. The anonymous edits are tied to an IP address that is sent to a database that subsequently blocks that IP address from making any more edits. Several large corporations, including Google who had employees post anonymous edits to bolster the internet conglomerate’s Wikipedia page, have been “busted” by the Wiki Scanner.

As a result of their intense efforts to block such content, Stephan Spencer, founder of Netconcepts, suggests that you do several things before attempting to establish a brand on Wikipedia. First, it is essential that you develop a Wikipedia profile. Posting anonymous edits without a profile sends a red flag to those who are looking to rid the website of spam and pure marketing content. Second, your profile must be established for some time before you engage in edits for your company. A long history of credible edits under your profile tag will heighten your credibility. This is especially true if your edits are on pages that have absolutely nothing to do with your business. An individual operating a Wiki Scanner is less likely to tag your edits if they see that you have a long history of performing virtuous edits such as deleting spam, fixing typos, etc. Finally, once you have created a profile and have developed a solid reputation behind it, you will find it much easier to not only edit material surrounding your particular company or industry, but also to create your own Wikipedia page. Pages are more likely to remain on the site if the profile attached to the page has demonstrated a long history of contribution to the Wikipedia community.

Keep in mind that Wikipedia, like all other social-networking sites, is one that follows certain cyber-cultural traditions, values, and norms. Presenting yourself as someone who is sensitive, understanding, and pro-active in maintaining these traditions, values, and norms will maximize your potential in harnessing the power of the site for your benefit.

LinkedIn can be an invaluable too for effectively marketing you and your organization, but as with other social media networking sites, you are faced with a dilemma. Is it better to have a quality network or a large network? The quantity vs. quality debate is not new, but do you really need to pick a side?

Maybe not. According to Helen Overland of Non-Linear Creations, you can have both if you get to know LinkedIn. As many of you know, the purpose of LinkedIn is to network with people who you know on a professional level. Unlike social media sites like Facebook, where users communicate in a friendly, informal way, LinkedIn is the place to find executives looking to expand their business network.

Developing a core central quality network on LinkedIn is a great way for you to maintain business relationships and spark new ones. It’s also a good way to keep in touch with what’s going on in your particular industry. Having a quality network enables you to contact a group of people who are truly interested in what you have to say. Diluting this network with contacts who you may not know just to add numbers may make you look hungry for any opportunity. Still, there are times when you need to contact a large number of people. How do you do add quantity without diluting the quality of your LinkedIn network?

You can build a quality LinkedIn network and then contact a couple of people who are listed as open network. That way you can maintain your core group while also being able to talk to all of the first and second degree contacts of your open network contact.

One great resource for finding open network contacts on LinkedIn is to visit www.toplinked.com. This site lists the TopLinked people on LinkedIn and enables you to connect with these power users. Still, it is best to learn as much as you can about these open networkers because they are often recruiters and it is good to know who you are dealing with.

So, to summarize, quality is important, but sometimes you also need quantity. It is possible to preserve your quality network and also contact a large number of people; you just have to do your research. Good thing there are tools out there that can help you have your cake and eat it too.

I will admit that, at first blush, Twitter seems to be nothing more than a silly waste of time. Based on the massive traffic that Twitter is gaining there has to be much more to it than just Tweeting your current actions or thoughts for your “followers” to see.Plenty has been written on the subject of Twitter so I won’t bore you with regurgitated Twitter droppings.

I will throw some interesting Twitter facts your way though…

• Jeremy Owyang a Senior Analyst at Forrester Research for Social Computing says: “Google Analytics indicates this is one of the largest referrers of traffic.” He uses Twitter to push people to his blog & interact with the webmaster community directly.

• With an Alexa traffic rank of 639 (as of 1/13/2008) there is no doubt that your community is probably tweeting so you need to become a twit and join in the top-of-mind conversation that is going on there.

• Twitter is becoming the place to learn about what leaders in your industry are doing before you ever see it on their website or blog (if they post such things).

• Be the first to know of new content released in your niche.

• By following your leaders you will often gain links to some awesome free content that you may have never found on your own.

• Be the first to blog or write about new content that you discover through Twitter.

• Use Twitter to gain insight into products or services that you could create.

Twitter is a great way to keep your ear to the rail about what your market is doing and what they are interested in. Use Twitter for market research. Use Twitter for ideas. Use Twitter to market your new content… Use your imagination.

Twitter is a way to find what IS relevant to your audience and make “on time” recommendations…

Founder, CEO, and chairman of the board of MediaTrust, Inc. Peter Bordes said:

“2008 is the beginning of the “age of relevance” and recommendations. As users, media and advertising move from searching to finding a more meaningful and intelligent way to dynamically & seamlessly connect. Relevance is the key as media becomes even more highly fragmented, and users empowered to be in control of what & how they are consuming…”

It may be interesting to note that Peter Bordes and his entourage contacted one of my consulting clients, NetAudioAds, through a strong social marketing push that I started for the Pay-Per-Play Media Opportunity. Long story short, MediaTrust is now one of our biggest partners in that business venture and it all started through the elegant jitterings of a social movement started through Facebook which has led to people Tweeting about Pay-Per-Play.

I know that fact is a bit off topic for Twitter and I really don’t think “jitterings” is a word but the fact remains… News travels fast through Twitter and if you’re a twit then you will be one of the first to know about it.

If you want to learn how to use Twitter then I have written a HOW TO over at SEO20/20: How to Use Twitter. The biggest obstacle to making a successful run on Twitter is to gain followers so I have covered it in the tutorial.

I have only recently started using Twitter and I have gained a few blog subscribers as a result… I am getting 4.36% of my traffic to this blog from Twitter right now… I expect that number to increase as I gain more followers trough Twitter.

How do you use Twitter and what successes have you seen with it?