LIKE it or not, use it or not, social media is here to stay - and its digital tentacles are fast encroaching into unprepared boardrooms.

Prevalent social media platforms include Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, WhatsApp, and an exploding plethora of instant, real-time communication channels reaching random, specific and connected communities everywhere, anywhere, anytime.

Last year, eMarketer noted that out of 2.48 billion global Internet users, 1.86 billion are active on social media. The estimate is probably modest and growing by the minute. Just the digital communications tools developed by Facebook and others alone - including blog posts, status updates, tweets and online petitions - pose new and unexpected challenges for senior management and boards.