Does each one of your tweets require a multi-step approval process within your company before posting on Twitter?

Are all of your Facebook status updates products of rigorous review processes by your communications, legal and policy departments?

Does the above result in social networks in which you’re only posting one or two times per week?

Then maybe social media isn’t for you (or your company.)  Or, more to the point, maybe your organization needs a communications climate change.

The AARP spent some time last month interviewing 1,360 adults over the phone. They found that more than a quarter (27%) of Americans age 50 and older use social networks. Facebook is the most popular — in fact, 23% of all survey respondents said they preferred it to sites such as MySpace,  LinkedIn and Twitter.

When it comes to general web surfing, 49% of respondents between the ages of 50 and 64 and 40% of all adults age 50 and older, said they consider themselves extremely or very comfortable using the Internet. In other words, we’re very close to seeing the majority of senior citizens embracing the web as a content medium and communication tool.

Sixty-six percent (66%) of U.S. voters describe themselves as at least somewhat angry at the media, including 33% who are Very Angry.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 31% say they are not angry at the media, but that includes just nine percent (9%) who say they are not at all angry.

These days, you don't need a car. Heck, you don't even need an ambulance.

Just take a look at this morning's Wall Street Journal, which features an article, entitled, "Using Social Networking as Legal Tool."

What it's really about is how trial lawyers are using keyword search ads, microsites and social media tools to troll for clients.

According to the article, in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, one trial lawyer firm has set up Web sites "with names like bigspills.com, oilspillclaims.com and oil-rig-explosions.com."

Where is the outrage? After all, some have criticized (wrongly) BP for setting up keyword ads that link to an oil spill news center on the company's Web site.

But that's not all.

That same law firm has "20 technology specialists who handle such tasks as writing content for its roughly 300 Web sites." The firm spends more than $1 million on digital marketing.

The article shares story after story of trial lawyer firms who are spending big bucks on their digital campaigns. The end goal is finding clients. All of this may be perfectly legal and ethical, but how it escapes the same criticisms that, say, pharmaceutical companies receive for spending advertising dollars to promote their products, is beyond me.

Or the same level of criticism that BP receives for purchasing keywords to share information about the oil spill.

But I've long since stopped trying to figure out the double-standard that insulates much of the activity perpetrated by the trial bar.

It's not just the picture of beef on a new billboard in North Carolina that tries to catch drivers' attention, it's the aroma coming from the sign.

The billboard on N.C. 150 in central North Carolina emits the smell of black pepper and charcoal to promote a new line of beef available at the Bloom grocery chain. Bloom is part of the Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion chain.

A recent study from Econsultancy found that of the companies surveyed, 35% of companies managed their social media resources under the digital marketing team.  PR/communications departments managed only 21% of respondents, with 19% say that social media was managed by a cross — functional team.

Don’t wake up one morning and decide to create a Facebook page. Think about a social media strategy. What kind of policies do you want in place before you jump in?

Stop and listen in. “You have to listen, so you can learn, before you ever participate,” Breakenridge said. What people are saying about your brand? What gets them excited? Identify the tone of the discussions and any keywords associated with your brand. “When you start listening to your market, you become a better resource. Suddenly, you have one-on-one conversations,” she said. “So it can go one-to-many, so it can go many-to-many, and suddenly you have communities and you have engagement.”

Widen your horizons. Go beyond sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and LinkedIn — there are a lot of other micro- and macro-media sites out there that do similar things. Don’t ignore them. “Did you know you can go into any one of these social platforms and put in your keywords and see if people are specifically talking about your institution?” Breakenridge asked.

Customize your content. If you don’t listen to your communities and adjust your story to their needs, “Guess what happens?” Breakenridge asked. “The lesson here is that it just ends up as noise. We work too hard to have that happen.”

Channel consumer feedback to the right department. “As you get all this rich information and you’re dissecting and analyzing, you have to share that,” Breakenridge said. “It’s not just about the PR and marketing department.”

Identify bloggers who are primary influencers for your industry. “They’re the influencers that are on the same level as a reporter in The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times,” Breakenridge said. “Sometimes they trump the credibility of the media.” Join their communities and establish a relationship, so that you can share news more effectively when the opportunity arises.

Identify secondary influencers. These are the “magic middle,” a very targeted group of bloggers who may not appear to have as much clout as A-list bloggers, but who are very close to your subject and will invest themselves in following your story. “Media feeds off bloggers and bloggers feed off media. And it works out very well,” Breakenridge said.

Allow all departments to represent the company. No single department, not even marketing and communications, controls social media, Breakenridge emphasized. Empower your entire workforce to shape your company’s social media presence, rather than anointing a few chosen employees to tweet or write posts.