Explains that, although social media measurement (SMM) is a useful research tool that yields powerful results for market researchers when combined with insights from traditional sources, such as surveys, it has certain limitations and cannot yet replace current research practices. Reports the results of experiments to examine social media in marketing research which used SMM and Worldwide Web based interviewing on two very different topics (to control for the content area), using the same keywords to look at similarities and differences in the data obtained. Tested the working hypothesis that the more focused or narrow the population, the more similar the results from both methodologies should be, and examined two specific types of questions: spontaneous words or issues associated with the topic to see if they match with occurrence measures in SMM; and positive-negative opinion questions on keywords associated with a brand or an issue to see if they match with ratings provided by SMM. Notes that the survey was undertaken online with English-speaking Canadians from the LegerWeb panel, and examined two different topics, a traditional brand usage and attitudes type challenge (individual on-demand coffee makers), and a public opinion measurement (the Canadian gun registry). Reveals that, in both instances, it was found that SMM provides additional and helpful information. Concludes that, on the basis of these findings, SMM is believed to be a very useful tool that yields powerful information, but it does not replace current research practices and should be treated as another tool in the researcher's tool kit.