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The Internet has a permanent memory. Once something is tweeted, posted or photographed and placed online, you can remove yourself and your company from every social media site on the Web — but others will still have the goods and can repost them at any time.

Understand that you’ve already lost control — You cannot control the Internet, but you can manage it. Social media wisdom begins with the recognition that any one of your employees (or your clients’ employees) might expose you to risk. Consider Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier who provided thousands of damaging documents to Wikileaks.

Convince your management that they’re exposed — If your CEO or client leadership fails to understand this new reality, your leaders will eventually end up in a damaging post or headline. You need to know the intimate business details of a CEO’s career and private life if you expect to protect them. You must strive to become the ultimate insider for your company or client so that you can effectively defend their reputation.

De-emphasize traditional print and broadcast media — Newspapers, television and radio are now secondary sources of news. Even they get most of their content from the Internet. When pitching positive news or opinions, go to the primary source and attempt to influence there. Secondary media will amplify the content it gets from the digital community, so devote your attention to the source to have the most control over the message.

Monitor all social media and business activities – Follow GolinHarris’ lead and recognize that you’ll need to devote more resources, both financial and human, to keeping up with Internet-driven news cycles that unfold in minutes. It doesn’t matter if your client or company participates actively in social media; people are already talking about them. If you manage an agency or corporate team, arm your employees with smartphones or tablet devices and expect them to use them 24/7.

Aggressively tell your story – As your social media team engages in conversations, its members should know clients’ or companies’ communications strategies, including corporate values, messaging, culture and positioning. Otherwise, you run the risk of making a permanent error in a crisis or even during routine events.

Review crisis communications – The next Internet revelation could be about your company, your boss or your client. Arm yourself with crisis plans that focus on social media first and traditional media second.

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