But among more than three-fourths (75.8 percent) of U.S. companies that have built corporate strategies around social media, a solid majority view them as liabilities as well as assets, according to the 2012 RIMS Benchmark Survey.

For example, Facebook has proven a golden tool for "reaching customers where they already are" and offering online deals, notes Jeremiah Owyang, an analyst at Altimeter Group. Communicating with target audiences and improving brand awareness were the top-two reasons given for using social media, according to the survey. But at the same time, customers can and do blare their problems with a company on its own Facebook page.

Twitter too can be used to get the word out on products, but it's difficult for a company to monitor employees' use of the tool, given the high volume of tweets.

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Keywords: supply chain risk management, supply chain solutions, social media in the supply chain