There seems to be a growing trend of people posting whatever they want on social media – whether it is on their profile pictures on Facebook to even videos on YouTube. Well, it appears that these actions are getting people fired from their jobs or even evictred of their houses. More than ever, a person’s reputation is their most prized possession.
I had this discussion yesterday when I guest lectured for Lisa Gary’s Communication and Information class on social media and public relations (Thank you again Lisa for letting me speak to your class!). Not only do we as PR professionals have to know how to communicate effectively and strategically with our audiences, but we also have to know how to manage our reputation online in a proactive way. There are several good suggestions that people can do that can help manage their online reputation. However, there are a few things that I feel that are also important to consider:
- Not only use Google Alerts to look for your name, but search on search engines specific for social media. Samepoint and Social Mention are two that are really good because they not only find information on the web, but specifically on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and others. Plus, there are occasions where you are able to see documents as well. There are other tracking sources that you may also want to use in seeing where your name appears – sometimes Google doesn’t get everything online, so it is good to have other sources.
- Be consistent with your reputation in real life and online – People get into trouble when they act differently in person and create a whole new identity online. We need to be upfront on who we are online to establish trust and credibility with others.
- Think before you post – it is all about taking a look into what this is going to look like in the future – how would you feel if you were looking at this picture or video of yourself a couple years from now? People will get a certain first impression of you based on what is presented online, and they will make their judgemnet of you based on this information – so it is important to be forward-thinking in regards to your reputation.
- As Jim Carrey in “Liar, Liar” said, “Stop breaking the law!” If you don’t participate or do any of these activities – you don’t have that much to worry about. People today feel like they can post whatever they want online, and not face the consequences. Well, there are consequences if you post things that damaage your reputation and impact how people perceive you. It is important to keep an eye on what others are saying about you to be the most proactive – but most of all – if you don’t do anything wrong or participate in inappropriate activities, then you are okay.
I hope that this helps! I do believe that we are still in a transistion when it comes to the impact of social media on public relations and society in general – and it is going to take some time to see how this all plays out. Overall, I think that if we take a proactive approach and recognize that we are our best PR person – we can use the skills and tools that we learned in our classes to our advantange in managing our online reputation.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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