Tweet Positioning System, or TPS, is known in social media circles as a “mashup”. It merges functions of Twitter Search with Google Maps to provide a real-time geographic view of micro-blogging conversations.

This social media tool that allows users to track Twitter conversations as and where they happen – and it is one of the first tools to incorporate Twitter’s newly released “geo-tagging” feature.

Users can enter any search term into the TPS search box. The tool then links to Twitter, which recently released a software update allowing users to opt to share their current location. Drawing data from this “geo-tagging” feature, a map automatically appears showing “hot spots” where Twitter conversations are being held on that topic at that moment, whether it’s around the United States or around the world. Users can then click on the hotspots to view or even join conversations (if they are Twitter members).

Humana built the tool to gain insights in areas such as product development, event management and regional sales and marketing. In the spirit of transparency, it decided to share the tool with other users. The tool will continue to evolve based on user feedback. Several new features have already been added, such as the ability to see the volume of tweets over time for any given search, and the ability to add a widget (showing a map of your favorite conversation) to your blog or Facebook page.