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It is all-too-easy to destroy your reputation these days. Something you posted on Twitter can decimate your career opportunities, old photos can cause endless humiliation, and past mistakes just won’t stay in the past. Jon Ronson’s book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed goes into just how bad it can get and even looks into companies that can help you fix it.
But even if you haven’t made such a drastic mistake, there’s no guarantee your online presence won’t compromise you in some way. The problem is that the internet has been around for a couple of generations already, and that leaves most of us with a trail back to a time we barely remember.
Click here to find out how you can perform a background check that will show everything that is available on public record about you. You can also use it to vet others with whom you’re considering doing business or going on vacation.
Alternatively, there are some steps you can take to clean up your online presence.
Old photos can betray you
You may be looking through your old photos and come across a nice one, or even an embarrassing one, that you want to share on Facebook or Instagram. Maybe you do this every Thursday. If so, you should go back and make sure these photos won’t get you in trouble.
The problem with old photos is we may have posted them on old accounts or shared them on platforms that we no longer want anyone to know about. Maybe you’ve since abandoned that account not expecting anyone to dig it up – it may not even have your name on it.
But these days there’s reverse image search. Google will find everywhere an image has been posted online. With your old photos, it might lead to an embarrassing post you forgot all about. Therefore, be sure to reverse image search the photo yourself before posting it.
Be careful who you share pics with
Dating apps are one of the most common ways of meeting people these days. However, there may be reasons you want to stay anonymous until you actually trust a person. Some of the time, you might just want to have some fun over text (including sharing compromising messages and photos) before moving on from that person.
If so, be careful of which photos of yourself you share. When you send them an image of your face, make sure it was never your profile pic on Facebook or a post on Instagram. Otherwise, they can link those compromising messages and images back to you.
Curate your old tweets
We’ve all said stupid things over the course of our lives. Chances are, we’ve all tweeted stupid things as well. Unfortunately, old tweets have a habit of coming back to bite you. This is especially true if you’re a public figure, but even if you’re not, potential employers, landlords, and dates might scroll deep into your history.
Once in a while, go back to check if anything you’ve said will make you look bad. Delete those tweets and leave the ones that paint you in a good light!