What is the value of social media to internal business communications?

Sure, social media is great for staying connected with friends and family and finding long-lost high school classmates that, when you knew them 25 years ago, you didn’t want to have anything to do with, but what about internal corporate communications? What business value might be had in using social media within a company? Below are a few thoughts I’ve been mulling over:

Connecting like roles and challenges
Social media works by connecting people with similar interests and backgrounds. Family and old high school classmates, for instance, share a common background and so share a context for networking. Likewise, communications professionals, such as us, can connect with other communicators that face similar problems and challenges. The same principle can be applied to all professions and functions. Employees looking for answers to work-related challenges can access a huge network of professionals in which someone has perhaps faced that same problem and has a solution. By connecting with fellow coworkers employees can share their experiences and expertise, thereby increasing their own expertise and value.

Turning the leaders from pariahs to participants
When pressed, most managers will confess that there have been times that an otherwise vibrant and passionate discussion has ended abruptly in uncomfortable silence when he or she entered the room. Like it or not, the us-versus-them mentality that affects many employee-manager relations can affect, if not completely stifle, open communications. Social media provides a forum where all are welcomes as equals in the discussion, provided that social media etiquette is observed.

Rapid dissemination of information
Perhaps more than any other medium (that I can think of anyway), social media allows compelling and relevant information to spread like wildfire. As readers pick up and distribute content to other social media channels, key messages can spread quickly.

What other roles do you see social media playing in business communications?