When dealing with information online about yourselves, it is not only important for public relations professionals to be aware of what others are saying about their clients, but it is equally crucial for these individuals to know how the Internet sees them as well. Public relations professionals are also a brand that has a reputation among a group of key stakeholders, whether these individuals are students, other working academicians, other practitioners, future employers, and other corporations looking for a PR representative that has a good professional and personal reputation.
Over the last year at the University of Tennessee, I have discussed to public relations students, faculty, and fellow doctoral students the importance of managing your personal reputation proactively. Most of the people I talk to say that they sometimes Google themselves – however, there are things on Google that appear on other sites that you also need to be aware of. Some of these sites include Social Mention and Samepoint – which are two social media search engines that can be useful in determining what is online about you on social networking sites (Facebook) to microblogs (Twitter).
Also, it is important to understand how the Internet sees you as well. The Personas Project at MIT is a great tool for PR professionals to check to see how the Internet characterizes themselves and their personal brand.
Another great tool is Foller.me – which looks at a person’s Twitter account in terms of what they discuss and tweet about, details of their followers, and even shows where they are located. Here is what came up when I analyzed my Twitter account – very interesting. 🙂
So, my point is that the Internet and social media has really made it complicated for managing your reputation – you have to be aware of the latest technologies out there and also be knowledgeable on how you are perceived by others. But – more importantly – if you take the attitude to have a balanced presence online – meaning that you have the same professional etiquette in real life as you do online – then you will have a strong and sound reputation among your stakeholders.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
0 Comments