Five rules for protecting your online reputation

Last week’s tearful apology by Stephanie Rice for an inappropriate comment about a Rugby score on Twitter is a reminder to all of us that nothing on the web is a private conversation.

Over the years we’ve learned email can be a dangerous medium as messages can be endlessly copied and forwarded. The infamous Claire Swire email where a group of young London lawyers trashed a girl’s, and their own, reputations was a lesson we all learned from.

Today, we have far more opportunities than just email to make idiots of ourselves online and damage our own reputations, so here are a few ideas on protecting yourself online:

Everything is in writing

Internet communication is largely written. If you wouldn’t put an off-colour joke or disparaging comment about a colleague in a letter, then you shouldn’t put it online.

The internet is permanent

The little electronic bits and bytes might be transient, but what you write will be stored in numerous places. Even if you delete an inappropriate comment from your inbox or Facebook page, someone will be able to recover it.

Online privacy doesn’t exist

Given private conversations can be copied and forwarded, you need to assume that nothing online is private. If you’d have trouble explaining something to your mum, boss, minister or your investors then you shouldn’t write it.

The real world rules apply online

There’s a touching naivety about the online world with a belief that the internet is immune from the rules of the “real” world. The truth is that the net is part of the real world and the rules and laws that govern our daily lives apply online as well — securities law, defamation and just plain good manners are as valid in cyberspace just as they are in the pub or boardroom.

Apologise quickly

We all make mistakes, and when we do it online news spreads fast. So a prompt admission and apologies to anyone concerned is the best way to defuse embarrassment.

The best thing though is to ask: “would my mum be happy reading this?” before pressing the send button. If you don’t think she would, then you might want to think about things before letting a comment off into the wide world of the web.

While the internet is the most powerful tool available to businesses big and small, we need to always remember that powerful tools have to be used with care. Thinking before you post should be the first rule for online communication.

For more Tech Talk blogs, click here.

Paul Wallbank will be teaming up with fellow SmartCompany blogger Lara Solomon and Business Angels’ Michelle Gamble to present Small Business Internet Marketing Secrets in Sydney on September 28. Spaces are filling fast so book quickly for the early bird price.