The social brick road does not end in emerald city.

Social media took the world by storm. It was as if a tornado had swept through the Internet and turned it upside down, literally overnight. It came so fast and hard that no one really had time to absorb it.

No one could have predicted the global impact that social media would have.

It has had an incredible impact on things like: business, media and marketing. This impact was so huge that there is no way for us to comprehend how life could ever return to the state it was in before the days of social media.

The only thing that is certain, social media is here to stay. It has become an integral part of our everyday lifestyle and most of us have already accepted that fact.

Now that the proverbial dust cloud has settled to a somewhat more manageable degree, social media managers are sifting through the rubble trying to make sense of it.

There have been a few startling revelations to come out of this social media storm cloud.

One of those revelations has effected me personally. It was the realization that every positive outcome has an equal and opposite negative one. Unfortunately, social media is no stranger to this harsh reality.

The positive aspect of social media has been that it has given the power back to the individual. The human impact of this has been felt in political movements, disaster relief and other human rights movements across the entire globe. T

However,with every forward momentum,there is always a bump or two along the way that stops you in your tracks. Just like in the land of oz, sometimes you have to overcome an obstacle to be able to move further along the road.

One of those obstacles is educating people to realize that social media can have a negative impact when they do not act socially responsible. Far to often, over-zealous individuals or greedy marketers place ads and social status on social media platforms with no concern for the message or social impact that it might have. They are simply not acting socially responsible,they are driven only by the outcome: money and profit.

A perfect example of this negative behaviour might be for a social media company to place an advertisement for gun control on a website for missing children. This simply shows ignorance and total disregard for the individuals using the site. We need to start thinking about how social media is being implemented.

If an advertisement is considered offensive to a group or individual, they can simply ask to have it removed, however, the damage is already done and its impact is often irreversible.

We need to begin to Think Socially responsible when we Think Social to avoid having social media become a negative factor in our lives. If we educate people before it becomes a huge issue we can keep it positive by making ourselves accountable for all that we do and say on the Internet.

After all, the Internet and social media will be part of our daily lives for a long time coming. We do not need added stress from Intenet drama or controversy in our lives – we need to eliminate it. People are making huge strides in working towards living better lifestyles, social media was meant to enhance this lifestyle, not hinder it.

The more you know, the more you grow and Think Social wants to remind you to read our blogs and join in our discussions on Facebook so that we can all grow as one united brand in a positive on line environement; The Human Brand!