The other day a client asked me about the concept of managing your online reputation. Researching this a bit more I typed “reputation management” into a google and was astounded to see more than 22 million results. It turns out that it is much more than a new public relations speciality.
Your reputation, in the online context, is a blend of what you’ve done (what sites you’ve visited, what you’ve bought, what’s in your email) and who you are (personal and business data available online). This is the area reputation management companies deal with. Let me explain in more detail.
First there was the Internet, and then there was social media (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin). Even if you don’t understand how social media works you understand that it exists as a means of sharing information with other human beings. In the case of you, bear in mind that on the Internet, nothing you say or do there ever disappears. Instead it is digitised and offered up to the web at the speed of light and forever more. And this goes for everyone else, as well.
What reputation management companies do is look all over the web and find what’s being said about you, or what you’ve said about yourself, report back to you on the results, and generate good content that outranks the bad content. You can imagine that this would be very useful if you were a business and you thought there might be negative reviews about you on the web. However, it might also help you identify personal data that you don’t want online like how much you paid for your house, or those pictures of you inebriated on a skiing holiday. Importantly the more years you’ve been online, the more stuff like that is out there.
Generating the good content is trickier and comes under fire when it’s badly done. There are loads of fake good reviews on sites like Amazon or Tripadvisor.
If you’re going to protect your name, or your brand online, start with some simple rules:
1. Don’t post stupid stuff That includes embarrassing pictures and rants. Also, be careful not to succumb to SIWOTI (Someone Is Wrong On The Internet) syndrome, which will cause you to stay up all night arguing with people online
2. If you find negative things written about you/your business, respond to them as professionally as possible.
3. If you find personal information about you posted, request to have it taken down – again, as professionally as possible.
4. Don’t make up good stuffto counteract the bad. It will come back to haunt you.
5. Do engage in productive activitiesto raise your profile in a positive way. Use social media to express (reasonable) opinions, interact with customers and partners, find communities of like-minded people or peers, and present yourself as a self-respecting citizen of the Internet–and the world.
