by: Hannah Samuel

Social networking sites are a fabulous part of modern life. They allows you to reconnect with former friends, stay in touch with current friends while traveling or working overseas and can even help you find that dream job or partner.

But there are downsides. When a New Zealand teacher job-hunting in China discovered his name was the same as another Kiwi with an online reputation for being anti-Asian, he realized why he wasn’t being short-listed for jobs. A case of mistaken identity that had a very real negative affect in terms of his reputation and working life.

Recruitment agencies are increasingly checking profiles of prospective job candidates. Finding explicit photographs or commentary relating to sexual, drink, drug or heavy partying episodes aren’t going to shine a great light on your potential career suitability.

Even an uncontroversial profile can sometimes be seen in a negative light. Social networking sites are increasingly being highlighted in Police investigations. The murder of young Auckland man Augustine Borrell – fatally stabbed in Mission Bay in Auckland – saw online friends and associates being interviewed by Police about their connection to him. Knowing how to be smart and savvy about online reputation needs to be just another part of life today for young people.

Recent research1 from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) estimates as many as 4.5 million young people in the UK do not want a university or potential employer to do an internet search on them because existing content on social networking sites might show them in a bad light.

Created in 2004, Facebook boasts more than 39 million members with several hundred thousand new profiles being added every day. Creating and uploading a profile can take just seconds – but almost two thirds of the respondents in the ICO survey said they never considered information they put online would be permanent and accessed for years to come.

So how can you make the most of the upside of social networking whilst avoiding the pitfalls?

Choose your site(s) wisely

Social networking sites themselves have reputations. Check them out and decide whether you want to be associated with them. Bebo has predominately teenaged users, whereas Facebook and MySpace have more users in the 20–35 age group. LinkedIn focuses primary on business professionals and is being increasingly used by businesses worldwide to connect and recruit talented people.

Choose your online identity wisely

Cheeky, irreverent or salacious names could close more doors than open them in the long term. SecsyVixen sounds good now … but what about in a few years time when you are trying to impress potential employers and clients? You may find potential employers, business partners or clients will make instant judgments calls based on such names.

Choose your online `friends’ wisely

Quality, rather than quantity, should be the driving force for making and accepting online connections and links. The more ‘friends’ you are connected with, the more chance there is of being associated with something they say or do that might not be in your best interests. Reputation by association is a powerful driver and people will make judgment calls based on the kind of company you keep. They may be virtual friends but, as in the real world, reputation-by-association could prejudice how people view you.

Choose your content wisely

Numerous young people, including celebrities, have found out the hard way that once online, photos, videos and written comments can massively damage a reputation. An embarrassing or provocative image can come back and haunt you at any point in the future – long after you’ve left what you just thought was a silly moment in the past. Others can also use and misuse such content simply by pressing the copy and paste buttons on their computer. Before uploading anything, ask yourself `would I be happy for my grandparents to see or read this?’ If the answer is no – don’t post it. Get into the habit of doing an internet search on yourself periodically to see what comes up.

Remember the virtual online world is as real as the real world. Gossip travels very far and very fast, especially online. What we see and read about people on the internet can influence whether we would recommend them to people we know and trust, whether they get short-listed for a job … or whether doubts are raised and they are best left alone.

‘Word of mouse’ is as important as word of mouth today: both can make or break us personally and professionally before we ever get a chance to speak on our own behalf. What is your online reputation saying about you?

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