Dear CUs: How do you manage the social?

Many social media tools are either cheap or free (including blogging platforms like Wordpress and Blogger, DIY social networks like Ning, podcasting tools like Odeo, and online video like YouTube and Viddler).

But as anyone who’s jumped into the space can tell you, this doesn’t mean social media is a cost-free answer to a given strategy. The big costs are time and commitment. Creativity. Empathy. Enthusiasm. From a person or group of people. And it can almost become a double-edged sword, because the more successful your social media initiatives are – the more people are participating in your community and conversation – the more resources are required to manage it all.

From moderating comments, to creating content, to monitoring conversation elsewhere on the web – social media, a prospect that at first glance may look shiny, new, accessible, and cost-effective, can be extremely resource intensive.

So I want to ask some credit unions that are doing it, some of which I’ve called out specifically below: How do you approach resource management for your social media projects?

Do you hire a community manager? Do you clear room from an existing employee’s plate? Do you spread the work out among several employees? Do you close your eyes and hope for the best?

And beyond that, maybe the scariest thing of all, what if the initiative goes really, really well? What if your community becomes enormous and active? How do you plan to grow with them?