Your Guide to Managing Your Reputation Online

Managing your online reputation is definitely something that we all have to think about these days. When something ends up online we often consider that it is permanent, but there are attorneys who can help counsel those who need help removing defamatory information about us from the internet such as Aaron Minc.

I want to share some tips with our readers for a quick go-to guide for helping with your online reputation.

• Google Yourself– Yes, it’s often that simple. Use Google often to check in on yourself. See how private (or not so private) your life is. This is one of the best free resources for managing your online reputation.
• Use a fake name when posting on websites. I don’t mean legally changing your name, but make your own online alias. Just be careful to not use one that belongs to a friend or family member. After all this is about self preservation. You can also use a variation of your own name when posting on forums so that when people search for your basic name they will not find results that are you.
• Use diplomacy when commenting on blogs, social media posts and other online forums. Often employers are online searching for you just as you are searching for yourself. This often means if you said something 5 years ago it could come back to haunt you if you were not really diplomatic with your words. In my area some tweets have been the talk of the news when a local mayor made racial comments on Twitter numerous years ago. This is absolute proof that what you say online can bite you in a face to face situation.
• Remove yourself from online listings– We have gone through so many websites such as white pages and other sources to remove ourselves. Often this can take weeks or even months but I double and triple check to make sure these things have been deleted. I like to feel that myself and my family is protected because some websites even list relatives that are not living with you on your listing. The last thing I want is for someone to be able to target my elderly grandmother because they found my listing and know that she is an 80+ year old widow.
• Brush up on your privacy settings– Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and any other social media site is always changing privacy options. I check mine monthly to make sure I am still locked down on my personal pages. I want you guys to read the blog and related social media pages, but my life is not just blogging so yes, I stay pretty locked down.

If you find that you have been targeted because of something affecting your reputation based on something you have online, consider contacting an attorney such as Aaron Minc who can assist you with getting those harmful pieces of information removed.

What are your go-to tips for online privacy? I would love to hear all about them so comment below letting me know what you think.

Samantha

Samantha hails from Virginia and is a proud wife to a retired Deputy Sheriff and mother to two amazing little boys named Jack & William. A veteran product reviewer; Samantha has been reviewing products for 8 years and offers high quality product reviews with original photography.