Question: Do you know what comes up when you do a Google search for your name? While you are at it, search YouTube and Flickr as well. If you have never done this before, heed this warning about your lack of control over what people find when they do a quick search for you.
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Some of us learn the hard way that controlling what you share and post on-line will indeed impact the way that you are perceived by friends, family, employers, community members, and even strangers. No one is exempt when it comes to the dangers of sharing a bit too much on-line, and in recent months we have witnessed public figures, politicians, and others fall victim to having more than they probably wanted splashed across newspapers and TV screens due to their on-line presence.
It is important to consider that the lines between private and public and between personal and professional are being blurred by the sheer speed and scope of on-line activity, including social media. It is worth it to think twice before you post photos of a weekend out with friends, even if it was harmless. You never know how they might be perceived or who could be looking at them.
Aside from using good and sometimes strict judgment on what and how you share on-line, here are a few simple tips on protecting yourself and the content you do post:
Ӣ Even if your profile on Facebook is locked and kept private, remember that people can still view photos of you posted or tagged by your friends on any of their pages. Do not be afraid to ask a friend to take a questionable photo down that includes you in it.
Ӣ There do exist software programs that allow people to lift pictures off of Facebook regardless of your profile settings, so really only post what you want the world to potentially see.
Ӣ Avoid listing your address or phone number on Facebook.
”¢ Routinely review photos that include you on Facebook and “untag” any that you would not want someone to see.
Ӣ Ensure that your Twitter posts do not include personal information about where you live or where you will be at a certain time.
Ӣ Avoid using questionable language on Twitter and pay attention to spelling and grammar.
Ӣ Routinely search for mentions of your name on Twitter so that you can monitor what others are saying about you and what sorts of posts you are being associated with.
Web sites and blogs
”¢ If you have a Web site, do you have the WHOIS data set to private? Be careful not to leave your settings “open”, so that anyone who does a simple WHOIS search on your Web site or blog cannot access information such as your age, address, et cetera.
”¢ Monitor what your friends are posting on their blogs or Web sites that might include you. If their blog or Web site settings are “open” and your name is used anywhere in their content, this will be indexed by search engines.
Ӣ Monitor comments left by your readers and remove offensive content.
Flickr and YouTube
Ӣ Monitor photos of you that have been posted on Flickr. Pay attention to Flickr pages of your friends or family that could contain your photo.
”¢ If there is a video of yourself on YouTube that you don’t like, simply report the video and ask a friend to do the same. This should cause the video to be pulled automatically.
If there is one lesson that you take from all of this, it should be to become proactive and monitor your on-line presence. Value it as a valid extension of any other presentation of yourself that you put forward in life.
Here are a few more tips:
Ӣ Set up a Google alert for your name so that any time Google indexes a new page that includes your name, you will be alerted immediately.
Ӣ If the results in a Google search for your name are not favourable, it is not the end of the world. You can help to control what comes up in the search engines by registering your name in a domain name for your own Web site or blog and continuously post content on your site that is relevant and ideal. This will allow the site to rank well for your name.
”¢ Register your name on all major social-networking sites, even if you don’t intent to use them. Due to the popularity of these sites, they tend to rank extremely well in Google, and they give you the ability to control all of the information that is displayed on them.
Jenn Lowther is the director of social media marketing at Vancouver-based 6S Marketing. Check Jenn out on Twitter at twitter.com/jennmae.
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Comments
If your friend, or anyone else, wants to write about you on their blog or post a picture of the two of your on Flickr, then that's 100% their right. Unless you're able to give them a clear reason on how that post or that photo is going to damage your reputation asking them to take it down is just being an overly controlling jerk. Sure you don't want YouTube photos of you entering your PIN code at the ATM online, or showing people how you hide your Wayne Gretzky rookie card under your bed, but other than significant personal or security risks it's time to just relax and let it go.
If you don't want pictures of you drinking beer online, presumably because you're pretending to be Mormon as part of some sort of complicated jewel heist, then don't drink beer in public or with people who are likely to either write about it or post images. Do your drinking at home, alone, while hiding in your shower.
The example of politicians is really an accurate one, because if you're going to act like a hypocrite and preach one thing while doing another then maybe it's karma that you get exposed for it. Besides the truth often comes out anyway. Bill Clinton never Tweeted about Monica Lewinsky, and I never saw the YouTube video of him staining the dress.
So sure you can register for every social media site that ever is invented. Sure you can send your friends angry letters about using your image without your permission until they're not your friends anymore. Or you can just act in a way that reflects how you want to be seen, just like two years ago, just like ten years ago, just like a hundred years ago.