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Kathy

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Increasingly, more and more of us are moving a part of our social lives online. Take me for example: I'm a social media  junkie! I love reconnecting with old friends with whom I had lost touch, sharing pictures from recent trips or parties, hearing about my friends' opinions on current events, etc., etc., etc...

Is there a support group for folks like me?

Which leads me to a few important questions: Does your virtual reputation reflect your professional reputation (or the one you want to establish)? Are the photos and comments you're posting online things you would want your parents to know about? What about your boss or any future employer?

If the answer is no, you might want to take some steps to make sure that your reputation is protected (or at least consistent) online! Here's what I do:

1. I deactivated accounts that I no longer use. Like I said, I jumped on the social media bandwagon in a big way. At my worst, I had joined no fewer than eight different social media-type sites. Yikes! About a year ago, I went back and removed my information from all but the two or three sites that I actively use so that I don't have such a long trail of websites to keep tabs on.
2. I actively manage the privacy settings  provided on the sites I still do use. I make sure that I am only sharing personal information with my friends and I restrict access to photos even more stringently. If someone tags a picture of me that I would prefer didn't go up, I immediately remove that tag and occasionally even ask that person to take pictures down. People have gotten fired for photos that were put up on these web sites! Is that something I want to deal with? Um, no!

There are companies out there  that will help you protect your rep, but in the spirit of DIY, this is something that you should take a very personal interest in yourself! If you're not quite sure about general guidelines for internet privacy, there are plenty of resources to help you get educated, such as:

1. www.ConnectSafely.org 
2. www.NetSmartz.org 
3. www.OnguardOnline.gov 
4. www.TRUSTe.org 
5. www.WebWiseKids.org 
6. www.WiredSafety.org 

What steps have you taken to protect your virtual rep?

Staci

What does your online persona say about you?

Let me clarify here, because I'm not talking about your avatar in a virtual world or your online dating profile.

What I mean is this: Would a web search reveal any skeletons in your social networking closet that might impact your future? For example, are you concerned about what college admissions counselors, scholarship search committees, or potential employers might find if they happened upon your MySpace  page?

On occasion I google  myself to find mentions of this blog or, since I serve as a company spokesperson, any news articles referencing Wells Fargo student loans. Sure, this research is necessary for my job — but honestly, I am curious. Who isn't?

So far, I haven't found any surprises (good, bad, or otherwise). I try to be careful — I blog only for work, and for the most part, I keep my Facebook  profile settings private. Even so, in the online world, nothing's really all that private.

If you're a high school student, college student, or a soon-to-be graduate, you probably have a far more active and visible online persona than I do. What precautions are you taking to keep your online self cloaked? Or do you use the internet to highlight your accomplishments and market yourself?