It has really become common—and widely accepted—to bash and trash politicians online.

Social media has certainly not made things better in that respect. I think that it has made many of us meaner, and I can feel among my clients that they’re genuinely worried about being hit by, what I call, space junk. In fact, I think it even keeps some people from running for office because they know that if they run competitively, they will become targets of attacks.

There are two things that really strike me:

First is the trivial nature of many things that supposedly become scandals online. As an example, from outside politics, the Miss Finland was recently forced to give up her crown because of a scandal that went viral on social media. At the core, it was really all about a silly joke.

Second is how rapidly supposed scandals can go viral and how quickly a scandal can literally end a career.

So here is something you can do today—and then every day from now on—to prepare yourself for an attack: spread more good news. The stronger your brand and the more positive information people have about your signature accomplishments, the better inoculated you are against an eventual attack.

It’s also important to hear the grass grow. Oftentimes, there are warning signs of an attack before it happens, but they go unnoticed.

If you do get hit, call me. I have personally worked for people who were accused of corruption, drug abuse, ghost projects, gambling, not hailing from the area, being too religious, too liberal, too young or too old.

The first move after being attacked is critical. If you take a wrong turn at the beginning, everything that follows will be wrong. It’s like walking in a labyrinth. In my experience, an spontaneous and initial lie often becomes a bigger problem than the scandal itself.

Watch the latest edition of The Campaign Doctor for more on this topic. In the video, I talk about how political careers collapse online and offer a political survival manual.