Frederick Felman of ecommercietimes.com writes, Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook can be a boon to marketing, but they can also be a threat if not properly managed. What happens when someone outside your organization sets up a profile using the name of your brand, your spokesperson, or some other piece of your IP? The solution is proactive prevention.

What sort of proactive prevention must companies and marketers do to make sure that the brand does not fall into the wrong hands? Felman offers up a few suggestions on ways to stop the "hijackers" before they start.

First, sign up for the leading social media sites, even if you aren't sure they really apply to you.

Second, search for every brand name you want to protect, including your company name, the names of your products, characters, spokespersons (or spokes critters, as the case may be) and any other intellectual property you may have out there.

Third, if you find that there's an infringement of your intellectual property, start with a low-key effort.

For more tips and guidance on what to do, or not to do, in a social media situation, check out the rest of Felman's post.

The Cure for Social Media Brandjacking