Karen Freberg, Ph.D.

Introduction

Karen Freberg, Ph.D. – University of Louisville ¨  Education:

¤  Ph.D., Communications (University of Tennessee) ¤  MA, Strategic Public Relations (University of

Southern California) ¤  BS, Public Relations (University of Florida)

¨  Interests: ¤  Social media, Crisis Communications, and PR

¨  Social Media: ¤  FB, LinkedIn, Twitter (@kfreberg), and

Pinterest ¨  Blog: www.karenfreberg.com/blog

Managing Online Presence & Reputation

Something  to  think  about…  

¨  “It  takes  many  good  deeds  to  build  a  good  reputation,  and  only  one  bad  one  to  lose  it.”          -­‐-­‐  Benjamin  Franklin    

De1inition  of  a  reputation  

 “Reputation  is  a  collective  term  referring  to  all  stakeholders’  views  of  corporation  or  individual,  including  identity  and  image  based  on  experiences  and  expectations.”  

 -­‐Professor  Gary  Davies    Manchester  Business  School  

 

Online reputation management

¨  People will have a voice – filtered or unfiltered – online and with social media

¨  Social media is the personalized digital version of traditional media – people sharing information, discussing important issues, etc

¨  Communities will engage in conversation online – with you, against you, and even about you

¨  Privacy online is really not there – people will judge you based on the information presented online on Google, Bing, Twitter, Facebook, or other sites – First impressions key!

"Google is not a search engine. It's a reputation management

system. Online your rep is quantifiable, findable and totally unavoidable."

-- Wired magazine, April 2007

Reputations are….

¨  Evolving ¨  Fragile ¨  Needs to be constantly maintained ¨  Integrated perceptions of our various roles in life ¨  Not only in the local sphere – but are now global ¨  Influenced by word-of-mouth communications – not only what you

say to others, but what your “friends” say and present about you as well.

¨  Are constructed through personal interactions online, ongoing dialogue, and the personalized presentation of information in multiple formats to showcase personality traits

¨  Formed over time ¨  Most valuable possession – part of individual, business, and

society

Risky Business White Paper (Weber Shandwick PR)

¨  Some realities we all need to be aware for 2011 and beyond: ¤ Reputation threat is high ¤ Reputations online are revealed – but not completely ¤ Naiveté can lead to surprise ¤ Leaks gush dangerously online ¤ Emergence of “reputation assassins”

Why  do  you  need  to  manage  your  presence  /  reputation  online?  

�  More people are going online for news, information about companies and jobs, and networking – and Google never forgets!

�  The internet is an important medium for PR professionals to not only know, but also understand how it works.

�  Employers today search online when they are interviewing job candidates.

�  You need to be aware of what is posted and shared on you online

�  By managing your brand with a personal web site, online portfolio, social media resume, and blog, you will have a little more control over what is posted online.

�  Your reputation is your most priceless possession, once it is lost, it is very hard to get it back!

Online Reputation

Personality

Professional Content &

SNS

Technology

Online Portfolio

Consistent Interactivity

Social Network

Sites (SNS)

Discussions

Multimedia

What  NOT  to  do  or  say  on  social  media!  

Online  Presence  Continuum  

Too transparent Too closed Balanced Online Presence

Social Networking Professionally:

¨  LinkedIn ¤  Professional social networking site launched in 2003 ¤  Operates world’s largest professional network on the Internet with

more than 90 million members in over 200 countries and territories

¤  As of January 2011, LinkedIn counts executives from all 2010 Fortune 500 companies as members; its hiring solutions were used by 69 of the Fortune 100 companies as of December 31, 2010

¨  How to optimize LinkedIn ¤  Ask for meaningful recommendations ¤  Incorporate value-added applications to LinkedIn profile

(Slideshare, Prezi, WordPress, Twitter) ¤  Create and upload Resume / CV to LinkedIn

Best practices for online reputation management ¨  Conduct environmental scan of professional and

personal reputation online and through social media – track your online presence (web shadow) ¤  Understand your networks and environment, community,

audiences and followers ¤  Me & My Web Shadow – How to Manage your Online

Reputation n  http://meandmywebshadow.com/

¨  Monitor and listen to online discussion and comments – monitor personal SEO

¨  Be actively present on various social media sites - consistently

¨  Engage in dialogue with online community – showcase personality traits professionally and through consistent interactions

¨  Know when to respond / when not to respond / and when to take action towards online reputation threats

¨  Control the information you can – importance of having online presence

How to manage reputation effectively?

¨  Identify your own SWOT analysis for online reputation

¨  Set up own personal social media policy guidelines in managing own personal online reputation

¨  Opportunity to share your story - connect with others and create content

¨  Understand that whatever you post, share, comment, discuss online – it is public and on record

¨  Think before posting “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”

¨  Having personal web site / blog / social networking site ¤  Social Networking Professional – LinkedIn ¤  Social Bookmarking Site (visuals / electronic portfolio) –

Pinterest ¤  Maintain a consistent presence across social media platforms

(FB, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc)

¨  Take control over your own story and image. Don’t let others control it for you.

¨  Be your own best PR spokesperson

Final  Thoughts  

¨  “Be  more  concerned  with  your  character  than  your  reputation,  because  your  character  is  what  you  really  are,  while  your  reputation  is  merely  what  others  think  you  are.”            -­‐-­‐  John  Wooden  

Additional Resources

¨  Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross (Weber-Shandwick Chief Reputation Strategist): http://reputationxchange.com/

¨  Reputation Rx: http://www.reputationrx.com/ ¨  Online reputation (Reputation Rx):

http://www.reputationrx.com/Default.aspx/ONLINEREPUTATION

¨  Reputation Institute (Corporate): http://www.reputationinstitute.com/