One of the big hang-ups with social media implementation in organizations is the attempt to manage interactions between employees and customers via social media channels. What if they say something that is off-message (heh). The quick response to this is, "Those types of interactions are happening everyday in the real world."

Here's a great example. The last week of 08 we were in Atlanta and visited the World of Coke. While waiting in the lobby to enter the theater to see the Happiness Factory intro-film the guide opened up the floor to questions. The first three questions all related to the Coca-Cola/Cocaine connection.

To her credit the guide answered every question in what I would deem an appropriate way. I should have asked her about the New Coke/High Fructose Corn Syrup rumor :-)

The point is employees will be asked questions and most of the time they'll give answers, especially if the questions are being asked by friends. Beefing up internal comms helps keep folks informed about what's going on internally, so when they do talk, they're at least saying the right thing :-)