Why You Should Care About Your Online Reputation and How To Manage It
Have you ever tried to type your name into the Google research bar?
Do it now. Type your name and surname. What do the results show?
Did you expect to have these results? Those pictures? Those info?
But most important question: Would you be happy with someone (anyone) seeing/reading what just appeared?
We tend to forget but... the internet stores everything (yes, E V E R Y T H I N G - even that picture you hated that your mate posted on your Facebook in 2009 and you secretly deleted). The Internet doesn't forget.
"Who cares?" you'll say. Well actually, the first person who should care is YOU mainly because there are other people who care. So, it kind of cares to everyone.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION
In a world where online and offline are more and more related, it's almost the norm that what people know about you (excluding close friends and family) they know it because of the info they acquire through the internet.
And we're not just talking about famous people, influencers or individuals who use social media frequently when I say people I mean everyone.
So if you think that the opinion of a person (a job recruiter, a teacher, your cousin, anyone...) about you can be shaped by what they find about you online, this is called online reputation.
THE NUMBER #1 REASON WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
It has been found out that 37% of recruiters search candidates on Google before/after an interview and 38% check their social media.
If these stats are not enough...
It also came out that just 29% of recruiters check out your Linkedin, while 38% checks out your profile on other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
And let me reveal you something else...the reason why they check out other social media besides Linkedin is because on those platforms you can find out aspects about a person that are not probable to come out during an interview, such as:
Your way of communicating
Your beliefs
How your informal attitude is
HOW CAN YOU MANAGE YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION
No one will ever tell you to not post that silly picture taken with your friends while enjoying a glass (or two) of wine. Even recruiters know that social media are mainly used to share personal life moments.
What you can definitely ask yourself before posting anything though is - Would I be okay with ANYONE seeing/reading/watching this?
Always keep in mind that anything you publish online can act as your business card.
Also, what you can actually do besides manual researches is activating Google Alerts through which you can monitor anything that's being posted about yourself via email.
Have you ever thought about your online reputation before? I'd love to hear your opinion on the topic!
