Twitter Lets Employees Loose at Hack Week [VIDEO]

Twitter announced this week that is has been hacked by more than 100 coders and developers … from Twitter.

But don’t go cancelling your account. This is all part of Twitter’s official 2012 Hack Week, a week-long event where employees from across the company are given time away from their desks to hack Twitter, coming up with new tools, ideas and designs to make the Twitter experience even better.

“Hack Week is one of the ways we actively promote innovation through experimentation around the company,” the company wrote in a blog post. “This week, a wide range of folks here are taking time away from their day-to-day work to collaborate and develop ideas that they are passionate about.”

Twitter employees have formed nearly 100 teams to build Twitter-related projects. Some will tackle ease-of-use, some will be just for fun and some will be completely off the wall. Twitter has given its “hackers” little direction, allowing them to freely create and iterate.

More and more companies are realizing the power of crowdsourcing — asking your audience to help you make important brand and business decisions. It may seem risky to ask a mass of anonymous strangers what to do with your money and identity, but the practice has payed off in dividends when done right.

Mountain Dew asked its audience to help it pick a new soda flavor and that campaign, called DEWmocracy, created fan engagement, brand loyalty and improved the bond between consumer and brand.

Companies are starting to realize that that same bond is also necessary with their employees, and what better way to show faith in your staff than to let their talent shine unfettered? Twitter’s Hack Week does just that. Stay tuned for more information. Mashable will follow up with any cool — or possibly permanent — hacks that pop up.

Do you wish your company would give you a hack week or is it just wasted time? Sound off in the comments.