The RE Blogosphere has been abuzz with the news that Realtor.org / NAR is looking to fill a "Social Media Manager" position. I guess it's NAR that is looking to fill this position, not Realtor.com (Move Inc), though it's sort of two heads of a two-headed monster, so it's hard to separate them. Dustin Luther, the very well-known and well-respected uber-blogger, used to have this position at Realtor.com but left a year or so ago.

I applaud NAR for realizing the importance of social media, albeit several years later than the rest of us. But here's my advice to NAR, Realtor.com, and everyone else who engages in "social media": when you leave a comment on the web, identify your affiliation! Kudos to Trulia and Homegain for doing this well.

Check out these two examples to see what I'm talking about.

Someone named David Claus, who I can only assume is a Realtor.com / Move Inc employee left the following comments.

1) On the Toledo Blade website, on an article about titled "Toledo area fares better than nation in home values" he left this comment:

"If you want to stay on top of the real estate market, visit the new Realtor.com first. They recently announced their listings in the Toledo are now updated every15-minutes, delivering the freshest and most up-to-date information on new homes for sale. Once you register on the site, you can also get automatic email updates about new properties in your favorite neighborhoods. Also, they now have more photos, time stamping (for listing freshness), and better search tools. Check it out [http://neighborhoods.realtor.com/OH/Toledo/Toledo/450392/Summary] --" Posted by David Claus on Fri, Nov 14, 2008, 4:31 pm EST

2) Then on the Sarasota Herald Tribune website, on an article titled "Zillow shows how far values have fallen", he left this comment:

"david.claus says... November 17, 2008 12:03:24 pm If you want to stay on top of the real estate market, visit the new Realtor.com first. Once you register, you can also get automatic email updates about new properties in your favorite neighborhoods. Realtor.com just added more photos, time stamping (for listing freshness), and better search tools. Check it out."

Now I suppose it's possible that Mr. Claus just is a really big Realtor.com fan. But my suspicion is that he's a Realtor.com / Move Inc. employee who has decided to spam the RE Blogosphere promoting Realtor.com without identifying himself or his affiliation. (This suspicion is supported by the fact that he's listed as a "Move Inc. Senior Writer" on this blog post, even though it says the blog post is authored by "Audie Chamberlain".)

David, this is bad form. If you're going to engage in comment marketing on the web, identify your affiliation.