One of the more frustrating components of social media is the massive amount of spammers lurking online. Case in point: you type something that deals with health products, and instantly ten new spammers are following you, trying to pitch their colon cleansing product.

Fortunately, not everyone is a spammer. There are those who are doing the social media thing correctly by following topics of interest and contributing through worthwhile conversations.

For example, earlier this morning I was discussing a new television show on SPIKE called ‘Deadliest Warrior.’ My husband and I stumbled onto the program and were instantly fixated. It was ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ night, but my husband actually skipped it (this from a guy who cancels all social engagements on ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ night) in favor of this new show on SPIKE. This is the equivalent of a kid walking out of Willy Wonka’s candy shoppe.

Anyhow, I was raving about the show, which features two warriors with extremely different fighting styles and from different historical eras. Today’s experts of these fighting styles (Spartan, Apache, Gladiator, etc.) go head to head with a series of experiments to determine how powerful is each weapon, and the amount of corresponding battle damage inflicted. A medical expert is even on staff to review puncture wounds and determine the severity of each laceration (no humans are harmed).

The show culminates with a computer program algorithm based on experiments to determine who has the highest percentage of wins out of 1,000. The concept of using modern science to determine the victory is beyond cool.

Skip to the afternoon. I am on my Twitter account, and notice the show’s computer science genius, Max Geiger, has replied to my Tweets raving about the show. This, of course, made my day because I had no idea the show’s research team was on Twitter, and I certainly did not expect them to respond as I was having a conversation with people in my hometown.

THAT is the value of social media.

The ability to search keywords and respond to fans, and foes. These connections are priceless, and they happen every day through social media. These are the interactions that can win you fanatical support.

As a marketer, patience is a virtue which sometimes I fail to possess. Social media takes time. It’s an investment which often has you wondering whether any progress is being made. You will have those “eureka” moments though when social media makes you giddy, doing exactly what it’s meant to do from a marketing standpoint.

It’s these times that I am excited social media has become a major landscape for today’s marketing activities.