Protect Your Brand in Cyberspace

Editor's note: The following opinion article is the second in a three-part series by guest columnist Richard S. Levick, the president and CEO of Levick Strategic Communications, the world's largest crisis communications firm. Levick is the co-author of 'Stop the Presses: The Crisis & Litigation PR Desk Reference' and writes for bulletproofblog.com. Click here to read Part 1 and here to read Part 3. Levick welcomes your comments here.

For anyone who doubts the impact of social media, consider the following statistics: Bloggers outnumber traditional journalists 100-to-one; Facebook has more than 200 million active users, most of whom are over 30 years old; eight hours of new content is uploaded to YouTube every minute of every day; and, according to a recent report in The New York Times, 14 million people visited Twitter 99 million times last month to post or read updates.

Do you know what all these people are saying about your brand, your company, and its leadership?

The meteoric rise of social media presents a multitude of challenges for those responsible for protecting brand credibility and safeguarding public trust. How can a company protect its interests in cyberspace, where sources often are no longer vetted and rumor carries the weight of fact?

Consider two strategic responses:

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