Entries from January 2008 ↓

Author Tim Ferriss, who penned a book we love, The 4-Hour Work Week, weighs in on personal branding via his blog and mentions ReputationDefender:

“Get Google insurance:

Register the URLs for your name and variants, and consider creating a blog. The objective here is to own the first 1-5 results that appear on search engines if someone searches your name. I don’t think most people should be bloggers, but having a Google-friendly and SEO-rich blog platform like Wordpress or TypePad that is updated even twice per month as an online journal is worth the investment for having first say in your image. This recommendation comes from Mike Fertik, CEO of the much-buzzed ReputationDefender.”

Indeed, personal publishing platforms like these can used as a simple means to gain larger ownership of one’s online identity, provided the domain ties itself closely to one’s proper name. As an added benefit, many individuals find that once they begin personal publishing or blogging, they tend to enjoy themselves and find it self-fulfilling.

Ferriss has more stellar personal branding tips elsewhere on his blog. Check out the rest of the entry; it’s well worth your time.

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The recent vandalism of Robert Frost’s Vermont home raised concerns in the community and online.

Dan Barry has an interesting article in the New York Times that chronicles the recent break in and vandalism of a Vermont Farmhouse once owned by American poet Robert Frost. Like so many news stories of late, this piece also involves social networking and teenage online behavior.

According to authorities in Ripton, Vermont, approximately 30 teenagers broke into the historic house and caused over $10,000 worth of damages.

As Barry notes:

“Mix 30 or more young people with 150 cans of beer, a few bottles of liquor and some drugs, put them in a museumlike, unheated house in the dead of winter, and the ensuing discussions will not center on [Frost’s poetry]. Some played drinking games, some got sick, some did damage, and all followed that snowy path out, bound together by a secret that could not keep.”

Eventually the damage was discovered, along with the identities of the students involved. Middlebury College, which owns the property, dispatched a crew to mend walls and restore the house to its original condition. Several youths, apparently unversed in country things, have been charged with unlawful trespassing and unlawful mischief.

Police and community leaders are shocked at the indifference and destruction wrought by the students. One teen went so far as to request a copy of his mug shot to use on his Facebook profile, which brings clarity to that indifference in the online world. Parents should talk to their children about responsible actions in the real world, but as this and other stories show, it is increasingly important for parents to educate their kids about acting responsibly online.

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The Daily Telegraph (UK) recently featured ReputationDefender in an article entitled, “The Companies that Rewrite Your Web History.” ReputationDefender CEO Michael Fertik was quoted in the British newspaper for his words on the now globally-recognized concept of an online reputation. Said Fertik, “Who you are online is as important as who you are offline.” Unfortunately for those whose past has followed them along the channels of the World Wide Web (this number is large), there exists no dividing line between the point where an offline life ends and an online life begins. Seemingly by the minute, these two sides of our lives are becoming one and the same.

The Telegraph also quoted Michael Fertik in his expression that “the transparency of it [the Internet] has also produced a seriously problematic effect: the Internet threatens to invade almost everyone’s privacy.”

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We noticed this interesting article from The New York Times this week. What struck us as a very noteworthy quote was the sentiment of one of the parents profiled:

“It’s really hard to control what our kids are doing online,” says Anne Collier, a writer who provides online safety information for parents. “What we have here is really kind of the new Wild West. Nobody is really in charge.”

This frustration is very prevalent among parents we speak with these days. The dramatic up-tick in the number of social networking sites on the Internet, in conjunction with how these sites can be abused, has led to a great deal of confusion. What separates a benign past time for the average 13 year old from a potentially very dangerous activity? The simplest way to protect children online requires that parents become educated on this topic and then monitor the activity of their children. When a child knows that there is oversight in their digital realm they will be less likely to engage in risky behaviors within that sphere. Microsoft has a pretty good site that helps parents educate themselves on how to protect their children online, particularly if you happen to be a Windows user.

Furthermore, parents can opt to take a truly pro-active stance and doing research of their own.

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We recently ran across this amusing site and had to blog about it. As the page asks:

“Are you sick of finding pictures of yourself on the internet?

Would you like to maintain some realm of anonymity on the internet?”

These custom shades automatically censor your face in real life (IRL), ensuring any photos taken will not compromise your true identity and ruin your reputation. FlickrBlockrs are the must have item for those concerned with internet privacy and high fashion.

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