Today’s Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about the potential SEC pitfalls of corporate Twittering. The thesis: Companies that are using Twitter to talk about financial information need to be sure they’re not running afoul of SEC guidelines pertaining to communications with potential investors. Meanwhile, the SEC looks for ways to make its investor relations mandates more accommodating to ultra modern communications.

The Journal article says that 23 of the Fortune 500 are currently Twittering, in addition to dozens more that are blogging. Though even some tech-savvy companies, such as Intel, are cautious about blogs and Twitter because of the potential legal ramifications and the prospect of providing a forum for critics.

Since Twittering and blogging are formats that encourage informality, authenticity, and personality over corporate dogma, figuring out how to join the public conversation without entirely checking your brand at the door is an ongoing dilemma for corporations.

EBay, which is featured in the article (and whose Twitter stream can be found here), has apparently reined in its resident blogger/Twitterer just a bit — raising eyebrows but not ire among readers.

As far as the SEC issues, eBay insists that any investor info, even on Twitter, be prefaced with a standard disclaimer. I wondered how this would work in a Twitter stream, since postings are limited to 140 characters. Had eBay’s lawyers really found a way to condense paragraphs of legalese into such a concise message?

No. Instead, the Twitter stream directs people to the company’s blog, which includes this page of legal CYA.

Still, as communications tools continue to evolve and eliminate barriers between messenger and receiver, top businesses are proving adept at reaching customers however they choose to communicate.