No one can avoid social media in today's world, the evidence of it in the mainstream is overwhelming. You just need to search for Social Media on the NZ Herald to get an idea of its wide ranging impacts..

Casinader, a writer in the lifestyle section and non participant in the social networking realm acknowledges, "as the online community grows, it's becoming even tougher to stay away". 

The reality is, your personal and brand reputation and image are no longer within your control..;Even if you choose not to participate, everyone should be aware of the potentials impacts. From this same article, Casinader demonstrates this while talking to another non Facebook user:

"Although 30-year-old Joanna Alpe has never had a Facebook profile, she knows she has been mentioned on the site, and there are "heaps of photos" of her on her friends' pages. It's harmless stuff, but Alpe is uneasy that there's a virtual documentary of her life online, in a space she has no control over. "