If you've ever wondered what a social-media presence is worth in an increasingly digitized business world, just ask Noah Kravitz's former employers.

According to them, his Twitter followers are worth about $42,500 a month -- and they've gone to court to make him pay up.

Kravitz has been sued for flipping followers from his work account to a personal one when he changed jobs. His case shines a spotlight on some thorny and confusing truths for both companies and their workers in the digital age.

In 2012, it is nearly impossible to imagine any company engaging with the public without using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social networks.

"Social media now is not an option, it's a necessity," said Anthony DeRosa, who, as social-media editor for Reuters news service, works to both share the company's content across the Web and help his co-workers do the same. "A couple of years ago that wasn't the case, but I think now people have to be a part of it, whether it's one social network or a couple of them."

But at the same time, creating an online relationship with customers comes with risks.

The past few months have seen more and more cases arise in which employees' personal and professional use of networking sites have created uncomfortable situations. Yes, there appears to be real and lasting value for employers in having an online presence that feels human, not corporate, sanitized and aloof. But it's a delicate balance that sometimes is just one angry rant or accidental over-share away from disaster.

"It's so easy to start these (social media) profiles that a lot of people might not have thought right away (about) what are going to be some of the repercussions down the road," said Jesse Dill, a Milwaukee attorney specializing in labor and employment issues.

"You're seeing there's some value to it ... but it seems like every year something new is going to pop up that is going to catch employers' attention."

PhoneDog vs. Kravitz

Dill and others in the legal community say there's little, if any, legal guidance on many aspects of social media in the workplace and that Kravitz's case could go a long way toward establishing a precedent in at least one area.

Last week, a federal judge decided to allow the case against Kravitz by PhoneDog, a website that reviews mobile gadgets, to move forward.

Kravitz worked at PhoneDog from 2006-2010, piling up 17,000 Twitter followers on the account @PhoneDog_Noah. But when he left, he switched the name of the account (a move the micro-blogging site allows) to @noahkravitz. He began sharing things he wrote for other tech sites, a move PhoneDog said wasn't fair because the company had helped establish his online identity on Twitter and elsewhere.

As the legal case moved forward, PhoneDog asked for damages equal to $2.50 per month for every Twitter follower Kravitz took with him.

"It takes both sides to compromise in order to settle their differences, and while I can't speak for Noah, I can assure you that we are looking to find a fair and reasonable solution," PhoneDog CEO Tom Klein said in a written statement earlier this month. "Noah has the ability to stop the legal nonsense and move on; it's his choice."

Kravitz, of course, sees it differently. He says PhoneDog agreed that the account would remain his, even sending out a message to followers to that regard, and that he hopes his case can clear up such questions in the future.

"If people can learn from my case and avoid the situation that I'm in -- be they companies or individuals -- then that's great," Kravitz said in an e-mail interview. "I'd hate to see the unique and newly developing power of social media -- the spirit of individual voices speaking on a variety of topics and such -- squelched by concerns over legal gray areas and shortsighted contracts."

Dill said, regardless of the outcome of that case, a few things are becoming clear. If a company wants to stake a legal claim to a social media account, it needs to make sure its employees know that's the case, enforce the social-media policies it creates and, when possible, have more than one employee maintaining company profiles on the sites.

"I really think this year you're going to see people starting to draw attention to the value of these profiles and really want to go out and protect what is developed on the company's dime," he said.

'Don't be stupid'