Social media may not yet have the ability to topple governments, despite some initial hyperbole around the Arab Spring, but it has certainly revolutionised communication. So when comedian Beppe Grillo, leader of Italy’s Five Star Movement, won a quarter of the popular vote in February, his success was attributed to his social media strategy. Viral campaigning, such as creating Twitter storms like #endfossilfuelsubsidies, is now a regular strategy for NGOs and advocacy groups. Digital marketing specialists are increasingly influential in both business strategy and public policy. From 02’s widely-praised handling of its recent signalling black-out to Barack Obama’s high-profile tweeting from within the White House, having an online presence is viewed as essential communication tool for building trust and managing reputations in business and politics. Meanwhile, the use of the hashtag #Utoya by sympathetic tweeters was shown on an interactive map of the world to reveal a compassionate, global virtual community in the face of tragedy.

But for every positive example of online ‘clicktivism’, there are numerous examples of the darker side of blogs and Twitter in hate speech and ‘trolling’. Fjordman’s anti-Muslim blog was closed down after it was cited as an inspiration by Anders Breivik. Norwegian politician Sandra Borch has drawn attention to ugly comments on her own blog, and worries about increasing cyberbullying by ‘anonymous cowards’. Reputations can be maligned online even with little evidence, while malicious gossip is easily circulated and given the veneer of truth. In business, slips and mishandling of online strategy have seen the likes of McDonald’s, Vodafone, Qantas, LA Fitness and myriad tweet-happy local politicians suffer reputational fails. Careless tweets have also led to people being sacked, and teenagers in the UK have been arrested for offensive, sometimes drunken tweets.

Are concerns about the dark side of social networks anything more than a moral panic, or are new technologies debasing society? Are social media platforms for building relationships and trust or destroying reputations and cruel abuse?