It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently. — Warren Buffet
An online reputation is created by any actions taken online that can be traced back to you. The most obvious examples of this pertain to social media, including people or websites you follow, content you post (or what others post about you), and comments you make. A bad online reputation can have long-lasting repercussions, including damaged relationships, difficulty getting a job, etc.
With so much of our life spent on the Internet, there are certain vital steps we should all take to protect our online reputation.
Managing your privacy
Other tips for protecting your online reputation
Sources
One way to protect your online reputation is to maintain a certain amount of privacy online. Here are some steps that can be taken to protect your privacy:
- Exercise caution with social media accounts
- Limit the personal information you share on social media. The more information you share, the more vulnerable you are for cybercriminals to use these details against you (or others) in an attack.
- Most social media platforms have privacy settings that you can use to limit the amount of information others can see about you, but these settings often have to be enabled. Managing these settings can be a good start for protecting the privacy of your social media accounts.
- If your friend "tags" you in a post that you don't want others to see, remove the tag.
- Social media accounts are also highly susceptible to hacking and should be protected with strong passwords. A good rule of thumb is to follow Dartmouth's password policy of at least 8 characters, including numbers, special characters, and upper- and lower-case letters.
- Use a VPN
- A Virtual Private Network (VPN) masks your Internet Protocol (IP) address, allowing you to browse the Internet privately and anonymously, even on a public Internet connection.
- Be careful where you click
- Phishing attempts are one of the major methods that hackers may use to invade your privacy. Avoid clicking on links and attachments in suspicious emails.
- When browsing the Internet, try to avoid websites with URLs that start with HTTP as this indicates that the website is less secure. HTTPS at the beginning of a website URL indicates a more secure connection.
- Secure your mobile devices
- Lock your device with a strong passcode (or face ID, if available). Passcodes should not be something obvious like your birthday.
- Use the same caution on your mobile device as you would on a computer when browsing the Internet and reading emails.
- Be careful with which apps you download. For example, you should only download apps that have a high rating and many reviews.
- Keep your software up to date.
- Install anti-virus software on all your devices
- Think before posting. When you share something online, you should always assume that it will be there forever. Even if you delete it later, you have no control over screenshots, copies, or reshares done by other people.
- Treat others respectfully online. This should be a given, but some people feel emboldened when interacting with others online vs. in person. Treat others as you would like to be treated, both face-to-face and online.
- Search your name and image regularly. Occasionally search your full name on Google or other search engines to check your online footprint, and make any necessary efforts to remove any content that is no longer appropriate.