Senior management is still trying to get a handle on the explosion in social networking and what it means for them and the company.
On the one hand the idea of the employee as brand ambassador and the prospect of an overnight vital success is very enticing. On the other hand corporate embarrassment and the possibility of losing company secrets to rivals is a worry.

Many companies are now using specialist software applications to scour the internet to discover who is saying what about whom. And this data mining goes right down to individual Facebook, Twitter and blog posts.

IBM is even warning its employees to make sure their Twitter posts have added value. One IBM manager is quoted as saying “You’re building your social reputation, so you don’t want to be frivolous or an uninteresting person”.
Some uncharitable people might then argue that Twitter is not the right place for them.