SEO

How do you believe Social Media is changing web searching?

Content posted on social media sites can end up in general internet search results. This fact has not gone unnoticed by the ad agencies and retailers, as they have now found a new place to market themselves. As their efforts and presence on the social sites creates web activity that the search engines don't ignore, they create the appearance of a larger interwoven web presence in related searches.

What Social Media sources do you think would be appropriate to promote a web site?

YouTube is exploitable for this purpose. If you post useful videos that end with 10 seconds of promotion pointing to your web site, you are likely to drive users there. I can see how people could exploit facebook and twitter by posting a website. And I don't think that is inappropriate, as the people reading the post have freewill to click the link, or "de-friend" you if they have a problem with your promotion tactics.
(Hey - no harm, they're not your REAL friends anyways - just virtual.)

What is your opinion regarding social media influencing web search results?

If it becomes a noticeable problem, I trust the search engine gurus will take notice and filter results to give the searchers what they are expecting. Ethics in the advertising world flex with whatever people will tolerate. Also, I am sure as with any corporation, a search engine company's decision on this topic will be influenced by their corporate relationship with the social media site.

Please provide one additional resource to support your opinion.

This link goes to a Dec 2010 article on "searchengineland.com". They interview Google and Bing to discuss how their search results are influenced by postings on facebook and twitter. What I read between the lines, is that it's not considered a problem, and that the mindset is that these sites are part of the internet landscape, and therefore will continue to influence the search engines. Social Signals