It had to happen — social media has had such a huge impact on worldwide communication that companies and technologies are springing up to help organizations harness its power for internal communication. As a communication specialist, I see this as a double-edged sword.

On the positive side, anything that improves true communication at work is a good thing. Poor communication is at the root of so many problems that it’s hard to argue against attempts to improve it.

On the other side, though, I’ve seen too many attempts to use technology to deal with issues that are essentially human ones. An example I’ve written about before is knowledge management: it’s fine to have technology that manages the knowledge within an organization, but how do you get the knowledge into the system in the first place? That requires human communication skills. When it comes to introducing social media technology into business enterprises, I see similar challenges.

For example, if a person can’t convey a message in writing to one recipient via email, what happens when that same person blasts an incomprehensible, or at least ambiguous, message to all reaches of the company via an internal social network? Does that keep everyone in the loop, or just drive everyone loopy?

I’d love to have your input on this topic. Has your organization introduced internal social media platforms such as Yammer, Jive or Box.net, or any other such technology? If so, how is it working out? Has it improved communication? How has it affected email use? Has it been generally embraced, or are people resisting?

This is a fascinating and timely subject for those of us who are interested in communication, so please weigh in with your comments. I can’t wait to hear what you have to tell me on this one!