Is my (online) reputation really that important?

 Didn't Joan Jett say it best when she belted out those lyrics back in 1980?

"I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation".   Well, easy for her to say, right?  That was 1980.  Only a select few knew anything about anyone!  Here we are living in 2020 and everybody knows more than everything about everyone.  And by that I mean we know stuff that isn't even real, so of course, our online reputation is important.  

I was chatting with the boss the other day about a young man he had just interviewed.  Boss really liked the guy.  What's the problem you ask?  Boss looked up his social media accounts.  Guy had posted bad stuff about his last job.  Did the guy have every right (and possibly every reason) to post this stuff?  He did.  But, what happened is my boss saw that and immediately asked himself what if, what if, what if.....

Guy did not get a second interview.  Freedom of speech?  Yes.  You've got it, I've got it, guy had it.  But it can (and it will) bite you in the booty if you do not use it correctly.  

Now, whatever had gone on at last job was very possibly bad, but online (publicly accessible) social media accounts are not the place to air your dirty and angry laundry. 

You may not "give a damn about your bad reputation", but the next guy will. 

So, what can you do?  How are you going to build and protect your online rep?

Well, isn't that I'm here for today?  Here is a list of ten:

Your online reputation is an essential component of your personal brand. When you protect your online reputation, you safeguard your brand, and a successful career or business can only be cemented on a rock-solid brand foundation. 

1. Google Yo'self- Get on there and see what you can you find out about yourself.  Pretend you are creeping your besties new boyfriend and you've got a bad feeling about him.  If you come across a site that has bad or false information than you can contact the site directly and ask them to fix it.  If they won't take it down create new content that will be likely to rank high on Google search results. You could:

Looking up yourself on Google is the simplest step you can immediately take to safeguard your reputation, and you must do it often — ideally once a month.

• Share articles on Blogger (Google’s blogging platform) and Google+.

• Create an SEO-friendly LinkedIn profile.

• Update your Facebook and Twitter profiles.

• Upload videos on YouTube.

 

2. Google Alert!

Google Alerts notify you of stories as they happen associated with your name. To get started, simply go to Google Alerts and follow the instructions. At a minimum, you should set up an alert for your full name. If you are a business owner, set an alert for the name of your business as well.

 

3. Take advantage of people search tools.

Use people search tools such as pipl.com or whitepages.com to do thorough searches on your name. See if your phone number, address, or date of birth comes up; if they do, it makes it harder for you to protect your identity.

4. Do NOT allow anyone to tag you in pictures that might damage your reputation.

And tagging doesn’t only refer to embarrassing pictures of you. Sometimes well-meaning friends decide to tag you in a picture of them engaging in behavior that should have been kept private.

If you find yourself tagged in an image you don’t want public, immediately ask the person to remove the tag, and remind him or her to not tag you again. Also take a few minutes to review your privacy settings on your social media pages to ensure that your personal information be shared only with those who are meant to see it.

5. Think twice before you post.  THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU POST!!!!!!     

What you share online stays online, forever…” Before hitting the “share” or “comment” buttons, ask yourself whether your action is aligned with your brand. As a rule of thumb, never post on social media when you’re angry, and regardless of your privacy settings, never publish negative comments about coworkers, business associates, or customers. To keep your brand strong, also always spell-check your comments and posts. Finally, keep in mind that what you post on the internet is your face to the world.


Bottom line- Be Smart.  Go ahead and “give a damn”.

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