Managing your online reputation the smart way

Have you ever done a search on your name only to be shocked by the results? 

Maintaining a good online reputation is important, especially when potential employers and schools are looking at everything posted about you on the web. We've all heard reports of people's lives or careers being ruined because they've published questionable photos on a social network or disclosed sensitive information on their personal blog.

What do you do when negative or false information is posted about you? Lifehacker has a list of ways to manage your online reputation. On it: 

• Sign up for Google Alerts or Technorati Searches to monitor information posted about you or your company. This is a great way to stay on top of what's being said about you online in real-time since these services send you an email as soon as one of your specified search terms gets indexed. You can also sign up with services like Board Tracker and Monitor This to track what people say about you in blogs or discussion forums.

• Control the message you want to send about yourself by setting up profiles on online social communities (Facebook, Twitter), and then take the time to participate in the conversation. The logic behind this suggestion is that creating fresh entries in web pages and social media profiles will push negative references further down the search results.

• Set up your own blog to address any negative criticism that comes your way, and don't be afraid to respond to any negative comments written about you on a blog. Just stay cool and don't lose your temper. Otherwise, you have defeated the whole purpose of the response tactic.

All good suggestions by Lifehacker. Anyone have any other recommendations or stories to share?

Related:

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