Managing Your Online Reputation

Note: Some of this information was adapted from Google's Digital Citizenship and Safety Course

The first step in managing your online reputation is controlling access to your information through privacy settings. The second step is being careful about what you post in general: making thoughtful decisions about what you share. This includes avoiding ****posting, copypasta, and inadvertent spreading of "fake news".

Establish Your Personal Boundaries

This may vary by what the social network is, but ultimately you should be comfortable with what you put online. The information you share should be thought of as permanent, because deleting information does not truly make it disappear. Whatever you choose to post can influence how others perceive you, and those others could be everyone listed in the "friends" category above as well as future classmates, friends, employers, co-workers, and college admissions offices.

"Friends"

You may have dozens or hundreds of friends or followers on a particular social media platform. How many of them would you share your deepest fears with? How many would you share the identity of a secret crush with? You also may have made a social media connection with someone who you simply had a positive interaction with in an online game or in the comment thread of a post. This is all to say that those who can see the information you choose to share is a wide spectrum of people: very close friends, family members, people you are friendly with and see in person, friends of friends, acquaintances you only met once, and people you have never met and only know details about due to assumptions or what they have told you. We all want to trust the people we interact with, but all of those people have different boundaries, beliefs, agendas, and personal experiences which can color their interactions with you and the information you choose to share.

Share Information Wisely

While it would be great to assume privacy and respect online, once something is shared the risk to maintaining that privacy decreases. This applies both to personal information as well as articles, images, videos, art, etc that you do or do not own.

Why is this important? What could happen?

Images can contain geotags which identify your location (see the privacy page for more about this). Programs that perform screenshots of images/text and screen captures of video exist. And depending how interesting or salacious those are, they can live on forever as they are spread. They can also be edited in a negative way and then shared. Someone on your friends/followers list could pass on a message or image you sent to others because they want notoriety or attention.

For news, videos, infographics, etc it is important to spend the time to verify information before you pass it on (see here for tips). For art, photos and other images, videos, etc, it important not to share someone's creative work without crediting the artist (If the source is unclear, try using a reverse image search). In all cases, all sources should be documented to give credit to the creator(s).

As stated before, many social media companies save and store all information. While they may be bound by company rules to not do things with them, that does not mean a rogue employee could not. People who you allow (through privacy settings or making connections) to view your information can save it for later use. And there are also automatic archiving services like the internet archive as well as search engines archiving or cacheing certain websites, so information is maintained even if deleted in some cases. It is always best to stop and think before you post. If you wouldn't say it to a stranger in the center of town OR say it in front of a classroom full of your peers OR during a job interview, it probably is not a good idea to post it - because someone could see that later out of context and make assumptions about who you are and what you stand for. And things you post when you are younger can follow you when you are much older. Look at the accusations of racism of Camila Cabello that date back to her teenage years as an example.

Respect Others' Boundaries & Be Kind Online

Your boundaries are not the same as someone else's. While you might not care to have an embarrassing picture of yourself shared, someone else might. You should never share someone else's information or images without their explicit consent. Just because it is posted online does not mean it was intended for everyone, as each person has their own personal boundaries.

Try to remember that behind every post is a Russian bot an actual person with feelings. This doesn't mean that you can't debate or argue with others, but keep things respectful. See some strategies here.

Also recognize that things that may seem like dry "facts" can be distorted and weaponized and sometimes depend on perspective. What may not bother you could potentially upset someone else due to their life experience, and you should keep this in mind when interacting with others.

Become Familiar With Community Guidelines and be an Upstander

If someone is being inappropriate or mean, you should assess the situation. Sometimes engaging with the person who may only be there to try and upset other people could make you a target. It is different if you know the person who is doing it. Many people are meaner because of the anonymity of the internet. If it is a person you know, consider challenging that behavior while not engaging in the same methods (e.g. NOT name-calling, but letting them know that the activity isn't funny). If you do not know the person, it doesn't hurt to try, but be prepared to take advantage of the services provided by the social media: muting, blocking, and reporting inappropriate content. And show direct support by reaching out to the person who was being harassed and offering support. And yes, "upstander" (stand up for others vs. stand by while something is happening) is kind of corny, but the idea is that the web can be what we make it, and if more of us conduct ourselves in a respectful manner, it will be a better place.

Wrap-Up

Limit your privacy settings to a level you are comfortable with. Decide on your own personal boundaries and think about what you post. Respect the boundaries of others and try and keep things as civil, especially if you know the person, try and let them know that they are being inappropriate. If necessary use the reporting and blocking tools if things become uncivil. Provide support to the person who is being targeted and always think about what you post before you post it and how it may be interpreted.