In this day and age, ‘Online Reputation’ is essential because it gives you control over your presence online. We all have a reputation that precedes our identity, but we do have the option to be in- charge of our reputation online. It gives us an edge to discredit any misleading information and showcase achievements and accomplishments. Thus, allowing us to put our best foot forward.
Online data is readily available for everyone to see, and people give their judgment based on the data we share online. From potential employers to colleagues and landlords, everyone can see those little traces of digital spill that we leave behind. If one is not conscious enough, it might be a problem in the longer run.
How can you fix your online reputation and clean up those digital errors? And how can you maintain a healthy and positive digital profile? Don’t worry! Just follow these simple steps:
Research yourself online
The first way to make a difference is to Google yourself.
- See what is already out there about you. Clear your browsing history and put your name in different search engines and see for the results that come up you could also try altered permutations and combinations like nicknames, initials and various variations of your name.
- Type other things about you as well, like the school or the college that you have attended. The company that you have worked for. The place that you have visited. Websites of previous employers that you have worked for.
- Make sure that you are looking for images, photos and videos.
- Don’t forget to check out the personal pages or blogs as well to see if they have mentioned you anywhere and explore the pages of your friends as well. See if you pop up in those windows. If you have made a business website make sure that you understand the comments and reviews. Make use of constructive criticism.
Assess your digital information
Take into account all the online information you have gathered and ask yourself the hard questions. Do you want others to see it? There will be a time when you see things you would not like.
- Ask yourself. Is it accurate? Is it positive? Does it reflect the image I want to give? If the answer is yes, leave it as is, and if no, move on to the next step.
- Would it be ok for anyone else like my wife, husband, children, or boss to see it?
- Is there something that needs to be edited or omitted?
- Is my personal and professional life too intermingled? If so, should I create different spaces for my personal and professional life? How public or private do I want my profiles to be?
- Take the necessary measures.
Observe everything
Be careful of your online activities that might affect your digital profile and hamper your growth. Think of the long term effects one post will have and always think about what would benefit your online reputation and don’t do anything that might damage anyone else’s reputation. Remember you are here not to tarnish others, but to make yourself shine.
- Before you say anything, think about its long-term consequences. You may be happy to share that post now, but what about in a few years? What kind of image does that picture give out, and how would people see it? What will your wife or your employer think? Is it prone to misinterpretation?
- Don’t post when you are feeling too emotional. You would end up regretting it. Don’t engage in online arguments. Don’t make any inflammatory or scandalous comments and do not post when you’re drunk.
- Regularly monitor your digital profile, check what information has been added about you. You can also use Google’s Me on the web It will tell you about information such as your name or Email address when anything is posted online or when you are tagged in a photo.
- Now and then re-evaluate your decisions on social media. See to things like, the social network pages you like, people and Groups you follow, and newsletters that you are subscribed to. Friendship often changes, so be mindful about who has access to your information. Remove people if necessary.
Think about your privacy.
Keep your personal information private, and please make sure that you are asking for permission before sharing personal details like photos or other information about the people around you.
- Another critical thing to consider is to keep your password and username only to yourself.
- See to it that the app that you are downloading, what information is it gathering about you? Will it sell it to a third party? Make sure that you never leave your bank details on an unverified website.
- Discuss with your family and friends about what they would like to share. Make sure that you keep in mind their privacy too. Respect their wishes as well and make sure that you’re not over-sharing. Over – Sharing is not caring.
- Make sure that you are not sharing too much about your professional life online. You might end up giving confidential information online and don’t be negative about your employer or your colleague or the workplace online. It might lead back to you, and the result could be catastrophic.
Mend things if possible
Retrace your digital steps and take action so that you can restore your online image, the sooner you can take care of it, the better it will be.
- Delete your old accounts like Orkut, Yahoo and My space that might not be in use.
- Hide or Delete embarrassing or controversial images. Make sure you remove everything controversial.
- If you cannot delete the content that has been posted by another person ask them politely if they can take it down. If you can’t get the contact of a person who has posted is take the help of the administrator of the site
- Suppose you see that it is necessary to use a professional service to clean up your image. Do it! It is just a click away. There are a lot of professionals who can help you take care of the pressing matter.
Reinforce Positivity
An excellent online image is created by putting your best foot forward. Find all the negative things about you, remove them and start to fill your content with positivity.
- Create positive content, start your blog or website and write regularly about things that you know well, or are passionate about. Spice it up with attractive images and contemporary input. Ask for feedback from your loyal audience.
- Keep up with the current affairs so you can think constructively. Make an educated guess about what’s going on in the world.
- Promote all the good things that you do, like charity work or helping the local community
- Last but not least, build a professional profile on networking sites such as LinkedIn. Ask people who know you professionally to write recommendations. Write recommendations for your contacts and keep commenting on the posts to keep your profile up to date. Add in new accomplishments.
- You could also consider buying a domain name and use it to write a biography of yourself and articles that might be of interest, but make sure that you’re not sharing anything too personal.
Keep up the Good Work!
Now that you have had a professional online makeover. Make sure that you harness the fruits that come from all the toiling. Leverage your online reputation to climb up the ladder.
