If Nestlé's experience underscores how not to handle public relations online, here are five lessons gleaned from past social media public relations disasters:

1. Don't get defensive
Nestlé violated a basic rule of public relations, said BNET's Rick Broida: "Don't insult your customers." ......... 5. Don't insult a cohesive community
In 2008, Motrin launched a video ad campaign which suggested that mothers who carry babies in slings do it to be fashionable, but suffer more as a result (and Motrin is there for you!). The video quickly went viral, but led to a backlash on mommy blogs, Twitter and Facebook. According to Fast Company's Allyson Kapin, over 100 blog posts were up at the time with headlines such as "Motrin Makes Moms Mad" or "Motrin Giving Moms a Headache." The campaign's Web site was eventually shut down and an executive sent notes of apology to bloggers. The one bright spot, a company executive told The Wall Street Journal, is that the experience was a learning opportunity.

Here's the Greenpeace video targeting Nestlé. (Warning: this might be graphic to some and involves a fake Orangutan finger and fake Orangutan blood.)

Have a break? from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.

Don't insult the customer.
Don't insult the customer.

Seriously, don't insult the customer.

Today, you need a whole set of new skills. With new media, you need to understand the digital space a lot better, how to integrate marketing communications, the value of search engine optimization (SEO), who is influential in the niche where your client is, how you set up listening posts, how to measure the results of your strategies, and be comfortable with new technologies.

You also need to learn how to manage your client's expectations and deliver the hard message of putting skin in the game -- directly, or through you -- with your results. You may be called upon to be more than an adviser when it comes to managing communities, and helping in case of a crisis.

To be good at all of this, you will become emotionally vested in the outcome. While new media work may take you to a whole new level, it presents some challenges:

• you need to build your own brand to demonstrate expertise without creating friction at work
• online you need to toe the company line, and disclose when you're doing that
• you're called to draw from your personality, along with your experience 
• you're working at all hours and need to find ways to have a life
• you're looking to create new trends and the industry is stuck in old ways

Valeria is simply brilliant.

Managing expectations, emotional investment and loss of control- issues everyone on both sides of the business are grappling with.

A must read.