It goes without saying that you've heard the word "twitter" with increasing frequency, along with social media and Web 2.0. Like most people, you may have tried to resist these new platforms, writing them off as pointless (Why do I care what you ate for breakfast?), but are now beginning to succumb. You're finally giving in and want to learn how you can actually leverage social media to see tangible results in your HR role.

Let's begin with the basics. Social media is a broad term that encompasses a large number of sites, online communities and some lesser known outlets, like Ning, Xing and Ryze. To keep it brief, though, we'll stick to the Big 3: LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Used as a business tool, these three can be leveraged in a multitude of ways. From a marketing standpoint, social media can be used to help build a brand, enhance reputation and (occasionally) communicate important company news. It can also be used as a networking tool, and from a sales perspective, can be used to locate and reach out to prospective clients.

But you're not in marketing and you're not in sales; so how can HR use social media? That's what we're about to explore:

LinkedIn

A recent article found that in many ways, a job applicant's LinkedIn profile is more valuable than the resume they send to you. Why? Because their LinkedIn profile is public, and no one is willing to be caught in a lie by their many professional connections.

Not only does this make LinkedIn an extremely valuable tool to verify the authenticity of applicants' resumes, but it's a great way to find and engage passive candidates. By doing a quick search on important keywords, including skills, experiences or even location, you have a wealth of qualified at your fingertips.

Lastly, posting open jobs to your LinkedIn status is a great way to get the word out that you're looking to fill a position. Not only is this efficient because it's all free of charge, but it's also more likely that your professional connections will refer to you a high caliber candidate that might otherwise be difficult to connect with.

Facebook

A few short years ago, no one could have guessed how powerful a recruiting tool LinkedIn would turn into. Many HR professionals predict the same will occur with Facebook. With more than 200 million active users, and the 35-54 year old demographic growing at an astonishing rate of 276 percent, this is no longer just a toy for college kids. Any smart business person knows that you have to go where your audience is, and more and more, regardless of demographic, that place will be Facebook.

A good corporate Facebook page will give the potential candidates insight into what it'd be like to work for your company, and hopefully sell them on that idea. In addition to updating the page frequently to include job openings, Facebook pages can also include employee testimonials, awards won and recent press releases.

Someone recently asked about encountering legal problems using social media outlets, namely Facebook, to recruit. The concern was that having access to intimate details about a candidate (gender, age, race) could easily lead to a discrimination law suit. However, if your organization has a Facebook page, on which you post links directing the applicant back to your company career site, that problem becomes null and void. Crisis averted.

Twitter

Twitter is the newest and most talked about of the Big 3 used for recruiting these days and it's being used in a variety of ways. The obvious and perhaps easiest use for many recruiters and HR professionals using Twitter is to find and source candidates. Tweeting your organization's open jobs is fast and simple, and within hours the open position can be viewed by hundreds of people. As your following grows, you will be reaching more and more passive and active candidates. Furthermore, it's absolutely free! What could be any better than that?

Other, perhaps more advanced, ways to leverage Twitter is to promote your company brand. Like the Facebook page that illuminates how great it is to work for your company, your tweets can do the same. It can also be used to engage candidates and build relationships with them. If a candidate regularly follows your tweets, it can be assumed that they're much better informed about your company and its culture before starting. Once the offer has been extended, having a virtual relationship with an HR team member at a company goes a long way in helping a new hire feel welcome in their new role.

Talent Management

The Big 3 in social media, as we've seen, are fast, cheap and easy ways to efficiently source, find and engage both passive and active candidates, maintain your company brand, build relationships...and the list goes on! Point made on the talent acquisition side. But how can you use social media for talent management?

While it may not be as overwhelmingly popular yet, more and more organizations are using social media as a way to foster employee engagement and productivity. Internal company blogs and discussion boards are two top methods to effectively communicate important messages with your workforce. Instead of the traditional one-way conversation- sending out mass internal communication and hoping it'll be read, HR can now engage their employees in conversation and foster discussion, even across geographic lines. Again, with tightened budgets all around and less money to spend on communications, this can be a cheaper, yet still efficient, way to communicate with employees.

Social media outlets, like the Big 3 or corporate blogs and discussion boards, also allow employees to connect with one another, share information, and even create or expand mentorship programs. The rewards are great: employees will be happier at work, more productive and also more likely to stay longer, all of which affect the business's bottom line.

So it seems that the benefits of using social media in HR are undeniable. From both a talent acquisition and talent management perspective, immense benefits can be reaped when you enable yourself to more quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively find, engage and retain talent. Even if you still aren't sold on leveraging social media to drive HR outcomes before, what's the harm in giving it a try?