Social Media is still the king of the internet. Real estate hasn’t figured out how to take advantage yet. Social Media is all about the free sharing of information for mutual gain. Said another way: you freely and voluntarily share your information for others to read so that they can gain some value.
The sharing of data in real estate has always been a tough proposition. Most groups consider their locations, rates and terms to be highly sensitive business information. It’s clear why landlords and brokers don’t want the information known – that’s their perceived competitive advantage. A landlord who advertises what the other tenants in his building got is giving up future negotiating leverage. Brokers want to keep their comps private so that they can use it in future marketing and business development.
But most businesses that occupy space aren’t in the real estate industry. Their protection of information is mostly reflexive because everyone else keeps it locked up or they came from the other sides of the industry. If you know a competitors specific real estate details, there may be some competitive issues that are known, but they are probably the same ones anyone can get with even just a little digging. Does it really matter if a competitor knows you are paying $2 per square foot more than them? The value of mutual sharing actually provides more benefit than the value of keeping the data under lock and key.