re: @chrisbrogan’s tweet:
chrisbrogan Is Twitter an intern-level responsibility for a business? http://tinyurl.com/5u75pe . Look@comments

Like anything with Twitter, the more transparent you are, the better. It depends on the social media related goals of the company. I see pros and cons to this dip-your-toe-in-before-jumping-in strategy.

If the intern is twizzlin’ to get a sense for web related buzz, to make announcements about upcoming objects-of-interest, or take feedback with an “I’ll check and get back to you” sort of flare versus being expected to be the online voice of the organization, then I think it is excellent. The intern could be twitter triage! It would be difficult to expect an intern to be able to represent the company. That’s a lot of pressure for someone who may not know the company very well.  That said, if Claris Networks has not made a “we’re on twitter” announcement to their customers, they might find that they have a limited, manageable following/stream at first that they can use as a microcosm for what they actually want.

Businesses should expect that they are going to achieve limited benefits vs. putting an executive or even a full-time community manager online. And I’m sure they do. Businesspeople are smart. They understand the value of their resources and tend to (at least it is their best intention to) allocate their sparse resources carefully. We don’t all have AT ATs, Tie Fighters, Battle Cruisers and Death Stars at our disposal!

Looking hypothetically, I can picture the decision makers of Claris Networks in a room talking about social media and its impact.  I can picture both evangelism and nay-saying. I could picture them coming to the conclusion that they should be doing something and that either they will use an intern to get learnings about the benefits or  use them until they can hire a community manager (anyone checked their site for this exciting potential career opportunity?)

If you look at Claris Networks’ twitter stream, it is pretty sparse on the “social” and heavier on the announcements. This article will certainly help them shape their strategy and perhaps help them engage in a more warm and transparent way. I’m a new follower and I’m excited to see how their twitter and social media presence evolves. 加油 Go Claris Networks! 加油 Good to see an increasing number of people like Brooks Brown out there who get it!