Today’s AdAge article,”You’re Using Social Media. But Just Who Is Overseeing It All?” organized social media into three models. I’ve expanded on Kunar Patel’s classification and re-arranged the models to further consider how social media resources and tools can be managed.

Each company employing social media will reach a point where they realize the need for a tool to help manage it. The needs vary from legal, permissions, and tracking to content management. In the most basic example, a tool will be investigated to manage social media programs to limit those publishing content from having to visit Twitter to send a tweet and then login to Facebook to post an update.

De-Centralized

A c-level evangelist leads social media involvement in one or a limited number of platform(s). This model is de-centralized unless the C-level “head” represents the entire corporation and facilitates feedback to the appropriate departments.

Disadvantages:
Scope – needs typically expand past the single department that the head represents.
Scale – the inability for one person to respond to the needs of many, promoting the tendency for the platform to be used for broadcast.

Advantages:
Brings C-level executives closer to their market

Distributed

Social media involvement is typically separated by platform and maintain by a dedicated team that reports to a specific department.

Disadvantages:
Scope - needs typically expand past the department represented
Scale – resources are wasted as work is duplicated

Advantages:
Teams are generally made up of those who specialize in the platform they are utilizing.

Centralized

A dedicated social media team that either represents or reports to various departments.

Disadvantages:
Cost of resources and tools required

Advantages:
Scope - Information is shared with the appropriate departments