What to Do if Online Information is False
by Steven C. Wyer
Life is not fair. Unlike credit scores and property appraisals, there is no conventional way to dispute false online information. Negative information will always impact your reputation. Once you discover bad information posted on an online blog, forum or social site the hard thing to do is to not overreact. First determine what has been said and where it has been posted.
If the mention is factually incorrect and you identify the source as someone you know, in a friendly tone you can send evidence that they are wrong. You can then ask for the removal or retraction of the entry. As you might suspect, those posting such bad information are not highly motivated to oblige. If no action is taken then there may be an opportunity to add a comment on to the posting. Postings that may counteract the negative publicity can not damage your online reputation at all. Utilize blogs, forums, social sites such as MySpace.com and Facebook.com to redefine who you really are. Professional social sites such as Plaxo.com and Linkedin.com are of great assistance in presenting you in a positive and professional way as well.
You don’t fight fire with fire in an unconventional attack on your reputation; the high road is definitely the one you want to take. Directly attacking will only agitate the author and may create even more postings to deal with. Evaluating the potential damage that a posting can have on both your professional and personal life is critical. Do not underestimate the power of the written word when fueled by the worldwide web! Damage can be minimized when you hire a professional reputation management firm like ReputationAdvocate.com. Evaluation, strategy and effective short and long cycle execution will insure that your online reputation is preserved
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