Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Defend your online reputation

When your name is Googled, do people get an accurate picture? or is there some pesky item in your past that you'd like to see go away?  The WSJ has a nice overview of ReputationDefenders, a small company devoted to helping clients undo negative Internet postings.  Starting at $10/month and about $30/post you want eliminated, they'll help you clean up your online reputation.

Chris Dellarocas, a University of Maryland associate professor who studies how reputations are built online, said the services are fighting a growing trend of sites that let users recommend, rank and opine on other people, from RateMyProfessor to Rapleaf, a site for people to rate each other after business transactions.

Rather than fight negative postings, I think it's far more effective to get positive postings added to your online reputation.  Controlling what the internet says about you is far more effective, I think, than reacting later when other people post something you dont' like.  Another service, DefendMyName, claims that for $1K/month they'll do that.

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