5 Things You Don’t Know About Reputation Management

5 Things You Don’t Know About Your Online Reputation Management

There is more to reputation management than the first ten Google results. There are countless ways a brand or individual may have their online image tarnished.

Even content on private accounts can be shared:

If you’ve confidently locked down your social media profiles so that you can feel free to speak your mind, be careful. Though you do have a reasonable expectation of privacy, remember that anyone who can view your private profile can also save photos, take screenshots, copy text, and share anything they’ve seen.

Your online reputation may soon impact your ability to get credit:

Companies are increasingly turning to social media when making lender decisions. They are primarily used to confirm identities, but in some cases, they are also assessing creditworthiness. Social media activity may soon be incorporated into FICO scoring.

Review websites are stronger than you:

Reputation busting powerhouses like Yelp and Ripoff Report have thousands of pages of content, and tend to rank very highly in Google. That means if you’ve got a bad review on one of those sites, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle.

The law — and Google — may be on your side:

Think you’re stuck with terrible search engine results? Not so fast. For serious offenses including false information, you may be able to use online defamation laws to remove content and even receive compensation for damage to your reputation. Google may also offer some assistance in removing sensitive personal information from search results, but this is relegated to a few very specific circumstances. Additionally, individuals plagued by mug shot websites may find help from new laws and Google algorithm changes. Certain members of the population, such as California citizens 18 and under, may be able to utilize Internet eraser laws as well.

Bad reputations happen to good people:

You can have a poor online reputation through no fault of your own. A criminal may have the same name as you, or perhaps you were pulled into a political debate or were falsely accused of something. A business may have thousands of positive reviews or satisfied customers, but one or two negative reviews placed on a certain site can badly damage its reputation. It’s difficult to control factors like these, but they can influence your online reputation anyway.