As many of us know, Twitter and Facebook are beginning to eclipse Google as the most valuable Web properties on the Internet. Many CIOs continue to grapple with the implications of social networking on communication within the enterprise. We are experimenting in the very early stages of using Twitter-like technology on our campus within the walls of the enterprise.

The first frontier is actually somewhat unusual. We are considering resorting to tweeting as an IT department to communicate with our users during times of system disruption. A thread driven, contextual, two-way communication platform seems very useful during a system disruption. System downtimes lend themselves to threaded discussions-impact analysis, problem resolution, business continuity discussions, etc. Two-way communication that does not rely help desk calls allows multiple simultaneous comments at the same time from both ends. IT also allows our users to let us know what they're seeing as what they're seeing is changing over time. It also allows users to get an indication of what other users are seeing. We are working through the logistics and legalities at this time. However, during times of IT disruption in the near future, tweeting may well be the new official form of communication.