There are no excuses for companies not to engage in social media

Yes there is. The balkanization of marketing didn't come with Web 2.0 when web designers suddenly started blogging and calling themselves marketing gurus on Twitter..it started when companies began posting videos on YouTube, creating Facebook accounts and Facebook pages, and shoving their names down people's throats and calling it marketing.

I'm not saying DON'T get involved with social media, I'm saying get involved with social media because you want to interact and help your audience become more familiar with your brand. Not because you want to see how many people are going to come back to your site after you suddenly appear on Twitter, hoping they'll regurgitate XYZ Widgets and thinking about nothing more than corporate rhetoric and bottom lines.

The excuse: doing it because it because you think with your wallet instead of with your heart.

Companies, get involved in social media for the social interaction, and nothing else.

a look at internal and external social media - even if a company doesn't participate externally does not mean they shouldn't participate internally