This week’s Social Media Club Question of the Week is one of the most pertinent to my online public relations practice.

The club poses the question: In the era of social media, what do you do to control your brand?

Remember the Skittles stunt in March when they turned their online presence over to social media sites like YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and Facebook? Their site’s still that way. They’ve certainly embraced their inner social media diva.

What do they do to let you know they’re not responsible for some of the content? They have a big disclaimer you have to agree to, along with inputting your birth date so they know you’re old enough to access their site.

I do a lot of consulting with business-to-business companies. So many of them are afraid of what will be said about them if they engage in social media. Guess what? Whether they choose to engage or not, it’s already being said. The difference is if they do engage, then they have an opportunity to respond instead of ignoring what’s being said.

We’ve all heard the expression ignorance is bliss. Well, I’m not so sure about that when it comes to corporate branding and reputation.

My answer to the Social Media Club question is . . .

It’s time you realize that you’re not in control of your brand.

With social media, everyone is a publisher. Citizen journalism will increase. It won’t replace traditional journalism, but it will play an even greater role in the years to come. People will always trust the opinion of family and friends over any corporation.

So once you’ve had your come to Jesus moment — realizing you’re not really in control of your brand — what do you do about it?

You become a master at using new social media tools to publish your own content which then competes in the marketplace of ideas for mindshare. The more creative, authentic and entertaining your content, the greater your chances of popularity.

Then you go to work to engage with others using social media to represent your brand.

It’s not so much about brand control as it is about brand management and appropriate representation.