Online Social Networks: Protecting Your Internet Reputation

We're asked daily to engage in internet reputation management for clients. Perhaps an old judgment needs to be removed, an SEC citation made to ‘go away’, or simply negative press moved in Google and other search results to pages rarely if ever seen. We don't take everything that comes our way for reasons both technical and karmic. The reputation management projects we do take range from simple to extremely complex, and more often every month we're leveraging the exploding social media platform.

With new social networks popping up seemingly every day, it's not uncommon to have your name show up on more than a handful of web sites - the objective is to get your message about you, and not some elses message about you, to show up on page one of search results. From high school reunion sites and social connection sites to dating and professional sites, practically every niche is covered when it comes to online social networks. While the social aspect of online sites can be fun, protecting your internet reputation can be downright difficult. Internet reputation management doesn't have to be a chore, as long as these simple rules are followed:

Check Regularly

Maintaining a list of sites you're registered on is an effective way of protecting your Internet reputation. Signed up for a reunion site last year but haven't logged in since? Delete the account or begin logging in at least once a month. An active account that isn't managed can become an internet reputation management problem, especially if others can leave un-moderated postings. Are strangers able to view personal information? Make sure that the information viewable on online profiles reflects an Internet reputation that you are comfortable with.

Proceed With Caution

Sites often require a plethora of information, from a mailing address to an email address and everything in between. Before providing any personal information, however, ensure that the site is one that can be trusted - your internet reputation depends on that trust factor. If a site seems at all fishy, stop immediately. Giving up personal information without a clear idea of what that information will be used for can quickly lead to internet reputation management issues, so think before you type.

Search and Alerts

At least once a month, go to all of the major search engines and type in your full time, your full name in parentheses - such as "Jane Smith" - and any screen names commonly used. If any of this information comes up unfamiliar sites or is used incorrectly, follow up with the site owner. Like pulling weeds, internet reputation management is a matter of catching things before they turn into big problems. In cases that your name is being used incorrectly, by a person that isn't you, or to clarify when someone has the same or similar names. Stay proactive and set up alerts for your name using a tool like Google Alerts– you can receive alerts from the major search engines any time one of those alerts is mentioned online without going to the trouble of searching yourself.

Only Add people That You Know

While it may be tempting to have the most friends on social sites or add potential business contacts on work related networks, best practice is to only add those people that you know or that come recommended from a trusted friend. Adding contacts that you don't know can lead to viruses and phishing, spam, or use of your name by someone that you wouldn't personally recommend.

Use Strong Passwords And Change Them Frequently

Finally, make sure that the passwords used on social networks aren't easy to guess. Using letters and numbers makes for the best combination, but also make sure to use different passwords for each network joined. I keep a password protected Excel spreadsheet on my computer to track my passwords. Change passwords at least once every three to six months in order to protect accounts from spammers and phishing schemes.

Don’t Wait

Often clients will come to us for internet reputation management months or even years after a negative posting that cannot be removed. Because of the way search engines work, older sites are often given higher priority in search results; because of this, waiting often makes things worse. We counsel our clients to start early, and if prevention doesn’t work, have internet reputation management ‘surgery’ done. Not only is sooner better, its more cost-effective.