Online Reputation Management Blog

Microsoft Releases Online Reputation Management Survey on Data Privacy Day

Every January 28, Microsoft celebrates Data Privacy Day to help the industry, academics, and privacy and data advocates discuss online reputation and privacy issues among customers, organizations and government officials. In conjunction, Microsoft released the results from a survey of 5,000 people in select countries worldwide, including the U.S., to determine how they manage their online reputation.

While the findings are consistent with recent data from other industry sources, it’s nice to see some fresh statistics. Microsoft found that 91 percent of people have done something regarding online reputation management, but only about 44 percent of adults think about the long-term consequences of their online activities. If that statistic is less than half for adults, I am curious to know what that number is like for teenagers; there’s a definite opportunity here to create awareness about the importance of online reputation management among adults and teens alike.

It is more important than ever to monitor your reputation. According to Microsoft, 37 percent of adults rarely or never do this. With free online reputation monitoring tools like Rhino360°, it is easy to listen to what people are saying about you online.

According to the study, 14 percent of people have been negatively impacted by the online activities of others. Of those, 21 percent believed it led to being fired from a job, 16 percent being refused health care, 16 percent believed it resulted in being turned down for a job they were applying for, and 15 percent being turned down for a mortgage.

It was interesting to learn that 57 percent of adults think about taking steps to keep their work and personal profiles private, but 49% of adults do not use privacy settings on social networking sites. Why is it so important to manage your privacy online? Because mistakes happen — 17% of people have inadvertently shared information online that was intended to remain private. Most commonly shared are details about one’s personal life (56%) and personal photos (38%). Check out our recent post to learn How to Change Your Facebook Privacy Settings.

Your Company’s Online Reputation Impacts Employee Recruiting

With unemployment hovering around 9% and underemployment still a painful reminder of the recession, you might think people searching for a job might be happy to receive a job offer from just about anyone. Think again. Candidates are closely scrutinizing the online reputation of potential employers and changing their minds based on what they read online. In a Q3 2011 Corporate Executive Board survey of 4,000 people who were looking for jobs in the previous 12 months, 66% responded that they lost interest in a potential employer because of something they learned online. Applicants are frequenting company review sites and checking with people in and outside their social network to get a better sense of what it’s like to work at a particular company.

Businesses that are not carefully managing their online reputation, risk losing highly qualified candidates to their competitors. Companies that have negative reviews online, but otherwise enjoy loyalty and support from their staff can encourage their current employees to leave reviews that more accurately reflect reality and offer prospective employees a wider variety of opinions upon which to base a decision, rather than relying on what could be a small number of disgruntled former employees.

Some of the most successful companies encourage the use of LinkedIn not only for current employees, but also to cultivate connections with alumni. Social media engagement can pay dividends down the road in many ways and safeguard corporate reputation from attack by providing multiple channels to respond to an online reputation crisis. With LinkedIn, you can have your rapid response team on standby.

As part of the exit interview process and when seeking a new job, people frequently look to their former employer as a reference. Similarly, companies should consider the reverse: identify former employees who could be a reference or reputation defender should the need arise. Unlike current employees who may have a perceived bias towards their current employer, former employees may have more credibility to the media or jobseekers looking for an insider’s view. This is just one of the many online reputation management strategies companies are using to attract the best and most qualified candidates for open positions.

Reputation Management Strategies That Work

After the self-inflicted public relations disaster and tabloid frenzy that eviscerated Anthony Weiner’s once promising political career earlier this summer, it's appropriate to reflect on a few online reputation management lessons from this PR nightmare and some steps that can be taken to avoid another media meltdown.

 

[Read more…]

How to Master Brand Management Online

 

Welcome to the world wide wild west of brand management.  Between Facebook, Twitter, Google+, foursquare, YouTube, and your company’s website – and I’m just getting started – clients and customers have dozens and sometimes hundreds of ways to find out information about you and tell you (and the rest of the world) what they think.  How in the world do you tie it all together?

 

[Read more…]