Slowly but surely, companies are realizing that their employees are using social media both in and out of the workplace. I'm encouraged to see that more and more companies have begun harnessing the power of social media to connect and engage people internally. For example, Sprint's intranet - Sprint Space - includes more than 1,300 employee blogs. Employee-generated content from these blogs is displayed on the Intranet landing page, meaning employees are driving the internal conversation rather than the other way around. Healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente is using social media to help its 160,000 employees connect and collaborate with one another through blogs, online communities and wikis. The company also built the KP IdeaBook - an interactive site where employees can search for colleagues by area of expertise, function or location; connect with key contacts and groups; and collaborate on projects. Impressively, Virgin Media has moved beyond blogs and social networks to embrace video and phone blogging (known as "vlogging" and "phlogging," respectively) and encourage its people to use Twitter to connect and collaborate with one another. Of course, adopting social media internally is not without its challenges. Often, senior executives are wary of both the costs and risks involved. It can be difficult to translate the grassroots nature of social media for a more regulated corporate environment. And of course, guidelines and infrastructure must be established to make these technologies sustainable. But one thing is clear - social media is here to stay. And as internal communicators struggle to find new ways to connect and engage employees, they will continue to see solutions from social media. How is your company using social media internally? What are some common barriers to success? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. @annmelinger