In e-discovery, said Gartner, there is no difference between social media and electronic or even paper artefacts. Logan said, "The phrase to remember is 'if it exists, it is discoverable'".

Gartner said internally managed collaboration and social media content is coming up frequently in e-discovery requests. The more-integrated the system, for example unified communications platforms, the more likely one form of content is reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.

Because there is legal uncertainty about social media in e-discovery, managing it is challenging, said the analyst, and claiming that personal social media content is private is no shield for the individual.

In some cases it may be appropriate to ban access to social media in the workplace. Gartner estimates that by the end of 2012, 50 percent of companies will attempt to block access to some or all social networking sites.

Hearsay, a startup founded in 2009, recently a cloud-hosted social media management application, tailored specifically for companies that have a national brand as well as a broad base of local affiliates. The platform allows both companies and staff to make sure their social media content stays within compliance guidelines.