“If confidential information is being shared, even innocently, question the judgment of the sharer.”

I say: Why are we still so focussed on keeping information confidential? I question the judgment of the organisation that chooses to keep everything locked-down.

Michael says that information/comments can be:

“analyzed more rapidly, and in more depth, than you might expect.”

I say, isn’t that a benefit? I don’t see anything negative about that!

The command and control structure in place in most organisations by its very nature places people in a position where to a large extent they are treated as incompetent or as children needing supervision. Organisations where people are treated as, and expected to behave like adults - output-based rather than presence-based goals, the ability to use non-corporate tools appropriately, an understanding that being away from your desk doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t working - often have high productivity, high morale and low instance of abuse of time, privilege and infrastrucure.

Twitter and Facebook, to use your examples, can be a source of wasted productivity but aren’t necessarily. There are many organisations using these tools to leverage peer and industry connectivity, communication and collaboration.

In the end, it comes down to a cultural issue, as Jasmin pointed out. With a culture of trust and loyalty of your staff, the benefits are manifold.

Ever paid someone to do nothing? Companies are doing that every day. It will take five to ten years for these technologies to become part of every day in mainstream business. Until then the balance needs to be reached.

Wasting time is wasting time. I find most twitters ramble constantly about things off topic and are more a distraction than a tool that can be harnessed. Hopefully in the next few years the next generation apps will find a balance that business can be satisfied with.

At the moment these tools, such as twitter and facebook, are clearly a waste of time. On the other hand wiki’s and tagging applications can have great benefits right now.

It’s not about training people (freedom to the people…) to do the right thing. It’s about having the right monitors in place to highlight those who twitter all day when their job is clearly not related to that activity… ie store manager..

Us “social” types know instinctively that many corporate issues can be addressed by appropriate culture shift. Sometimes we forget to voice it, so your prod is super-helpful.

In addition to policy, what about developing a culture of trust and loyalty? What are organisations doing to address real implementation and adherence to business conduct guidelines? Are there guidelines in place as a baseline for social policies.

The IBM Virtual Community guidelines are another example of a community developed policy :)