Vitrue just released its social media top 100. Apple grabbed spots 1, 3 and 7 with iPhone, Apple and iPod. No surprise, there. The list reads like a who’s who of corporations with big brand name recognition and financial clout, save a bunch of broke car companies. Yes, 19 car brands made the list and Sears was number 100. Sears!? Social!?Their floor sales people were among the most grizzled I encountered over the holidays.

So what is the social media top 100? Apparently, it’s the brands getting mentioned most in social networks. Let’s see if the big brands promote their presence on the list which they may understand less than I do. It’s not on Apple’s home page at the moment.

This is how Vitrue explains their measurements as follows:

“The Vitrue SMI calculates scores about the brand’s social conversations. We apply a series of algorithms to reflect the frequency of usage, the size of the social media environment, and the magnitude of the conversation. The result is a single numeric score for each brand: the Vitrue Social Media Index (SMI).” Maybe the Ad Age story explains it better.

There’s a list for everything and this is one I have not figured out yet.  Measuring the “the magnitude of the conversation.” Say what?

Here’s The Vitrue 100 Top Social Brands of 2008:

1. iPhone
2. CNN
3. Apple
4. Disney
5. Xbox
6. Starbucks
7. iPod
8. MTV
9. Sony
10. Dell
11. Microsoft
12. Ford
13. Nintendo
14. Target
15. PlayStation
16. Mac
17. Turner
18. Hewlett-Packard
19. Fox News
20. BlackBerry
21. ABC
22. Coke
23. LG
24. Best Buy
25. Honda
26. eBay
27. Sharp
28. Lincoln
29. NBA
30. Pepsi
31. General Motors
32. McDonald’s
33. General Electric
34. Walmart
35. NFL
36. Mercedes
37. BMW
38. Samsung
39. Nike
40. Subway
41. Dodge
42. Pandora
43. CBS
44. Mercury
45. NBC
46. Disneyland
47. last.fm
48. Toyota
49. Cadillac
50. Chevy