Social responsibility is an ethical or ideological theory that an entity whether it is a government, corporation, organisation or individual has a responsibility to society at large. This responsibility can be “negative”, meaning there is exemption from blame or liability, or it can be “positive”, meaning there is a responsibility to act beneficently (proactive stance) Wikipedia.Most of us know what society deems as right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable but our level of positive social responsibility is not only measured by engaging in those acts that society deem as acceptable or positive but our ability NOT to engage in those that are negative.Businesses, non-profit organisations, churches and many others have social media guidelines that they must follow when participating in social media efforts on behalf of their respective organisations. These guidelines are similar to a brand handbook, it tells them how often to post, what can and cannot be posted, how long it should take to respond to comments, etc. These guidelines ensure that their social media voice is aligned with their core brand messaging.A lot of effort has been put behind creating structure around social media communications, and that is because it is presently the fastest growing communications medium for both personal and corporate use. The power and reach of social media continues to grow on a daily basis and we cannot ignore or discount its impact.As individuals we should also have guidelines of our own that we develop and follow to ensure that our posts follow positive social media guidelines and that confidential conversations are restricted to inbox messages.Sending someone an email that contains hurtful prose or having a heated argument over the phone is distinctly different than posting negative comments on their Facebook wall for example. Not only have you potentially offended them, but you have now given their friends and perhaps their business associates access to personal, and what probably should be confidential correspondence.As with most things in life, it seems negative posts and videos become viral at a much faster rate than those that are positive and the long term impact can be devastating. We must all understand the impact that irresponsible and negative social media has on others and learn what we can do to ensure we don’t participate.Many of you may recall being told by your parents to always think before you speak, today you must also be sure to think before you hit send.Take a moment to watch the following YouTube video, Cyberbullying through Social Media by Matt Baer to see the impact it can have. Some content may not be suitable for children. See you all next week.