In this issue of Cutter Benchmark Review, we turn our attention to a topic that has been increasingly in the public eye: social media. What was originally only an interesting diversion for a small population of techies and college students has quickly and rather explosively become a major social phenomenon — one with cultural, practical, and business implications that become more far-reaching in scope every day. So what does this all mean for us in the IT shop? How do we manage in this environment where so many of the contributing factors are not within our control? And how do we use the information we can gather from social media monitoring (SMM) to set ourselves up for success? Whether or not you have already jumped onto the social media bandwagon, you will find this installment of CBR helpful as you attempt to get a broad overall view of the potential benefits and pitfalls social media represents for your organization.