Social Media tools are actively becoming part of PM Systems.  PM softwares must be able to chat, post, timeline, monitor, track, interact, exchange documents, dashboard goals/objectives & deliverables and do all of this in "real time".  And of course, the PM methodology must establish all processes that the software follows.

Often we think Microsoft Project is a PM Plan type of tool, this is not the case.  Yes, it is a powerful Schedule Management tool, but a true PM tool must have the functions mentioned above, similar to the Social Media World software packages.

Key functions of Social Media softwares are: communicate, communicate, communicate!

Essentially, with this function, you will have your finger on the pulse of the project, you will know how it "feels" vs getting a weekly report that stays within the tunnel vision of the template.  The more you communicate the faster you are able to transition from green, to yellow, to red and back and forth.  You understand so many complexities of the project that you are actually able to not panic and address issues as they pop up, and then get back to the baseline plan (or incorporate a change that gets you back on the path of the baseline plan).

Too often, a risk or issue occurs, and the first thing that has to happen is the team has to get up to speed on what is going on.  Not good.

NOW, on the other hand........Social media does also have some detriments, it does not often have clear objectives and ability to track and stick to them. Lots of time can be spent but is all over the place, so is difficult to justify business value. So if incorporating tools into the PM system, ensure that risk is addressed head on (many easy ways to do so).

MORE Good Reading.....
Social Media concepts & discussions are plentiful in a website created by a pioneer in the Virtual World (check out how many posts he actually has - in the Thousands.... WOW).

His name is Darren Cannell.  He uses technology to enable knowledge transfer (education and training) and is all about online communication .

Check out:
increasing-your-social-presence


Also check out:
increasing-your-social-media-clout


Also check out a video talking about Social media & Sales:
why-big-social-media-push


OR, if want to spend the time, research his blog and you will find that he shares a 30 Day process on creating social media presence.  If can't find all the parts in his blog, then contact him direct, he loves to share his knowledge.