Oh no! Accidental Facebook post!

ONE of the most powerful tools for marketing and advertising today is undoubtedly social media, with its wider reach and real-time interaction. But it is a double-edged sword that can also amplify and accelerate potential risks.

Consider this: when message boards - one of the earliest types of online forums - first appeared on the Internet, an erroneous post typically took weeks or months to reach a limited number of readers.

Today, the same post can easily start trending or turn viral within hours or even minutes, through re-tweeting of tweets and sharing of Facebook posts.