By Mary E. Morrison

Q: What has 140 characters and lets CIOs turn employees and customers into fans and followers?

A: Twitter updates, called Tweets— short messages shared with friends, customers and colleagues.

Web 2.0 channels like Twitter provide CIOs a new way to promote themselves, keep abreast of news and make contacts. By posting, people get to know you, and you become a trusted source.

John Halamka, CIO at Harvard Medical School, blogs daily at Life as a Healthcare CIO, and he says it gives him more than just visibility. "The blog forces me to become an expert on a variety of issues," Halamka says. "I have to read, talk to people, synthesize ideas and then write about it [all]. It makes me a much better manager, and it makes me a more effective decision maker and leader."

Other CIOs are also trying social networking sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn and, yes, Twitter. While this level of activity may seem superfluous, some experts say CIOs who do not use such tools are missing out on a great opportunity. "Anyone in our industry who's not doing these things is really at a disadvantage," says David Strom, an IT consultant who covers Internet technologies.

Web 2.0 technologies can also enable discussion and help disseminate information, says Chris Brogan, VP of Strategy at social media consulting firm CrossTech Media of Canton, Mass. "A CIO can establish thought leadership very quickly with Web 2.0," he says. "These technologies can even tie his or her activities to other, more formal PR efforts that the organization may undertake."