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Is your online identity in your control?

Dan Thornton | July 23, 2008

Image by stevec77 on Flickr

This post was inspired by a request by an individual to be removed from the voting on The Rock Stars of Web 2.0 list on Ditto.

We quickly complied and I want to make it absolutely clear that there’s no malice or irritation at someone wishing to be removed. If it had been an article of a blog post which was in the public interest, things would have been different, but the list is intended to be an interesting bit of fun, nothing more. Although I’d always suggest polite responses will get a quicker reaction.

But it raised some interesting questions about online identity, as the reason given for removal was that the profile listing (Image, name and main claim to fame) ‘was not approved’ by the individual in question. It’s lead me to wonder if anyone can really hope to control their online appearances to only those which are officially approved, especially if they have any level of internet ‘fame’.

A quick Google search for the name reveals many thousands of mentions, images, quotes etc. Are we right to assume that all of these have been individually approved? Or are they seen as valid if they are on established sources, blogs, or media sharing sites? Is it the voting mechanism which prompted the request?

And how would I feel about a similar situation? I’d be happy if I was considered a ‘Web 2.0′ celebrity (which I’m blatantly not), but what if I was at the bottom of the list? (Luckily at the moment it’s Jason Calacanis, who never seems particularly fussed about risking negative sentiment online).

And what happens if it was a list which I found distasteful or offensive? Something which was racist or homophobic for example? Would I even know it existed in the first place, if it didn’t pop up in a Google alert, or someone didn’t bring it to my attention somehow?

So:

  • How do I reassure myself I can find every instance in which I appear online?
  • Do I need to check the context of every appearance?
  • Should I expect to give my approval every time I appear somewhere?
  • Should I expect to be able to request my removal and have a prompt response?

The first task is tricky. A Google search will pick up a lot of things, but not all of them. There could be some bizarre story or rumour about me, hidden away on a tiny un-indexed website, that could, theoretically, suddenly make the front page of Digg at any time (It’s pretty unlikely though!). If my online identity and network are what I base my career on, one big article, image, or video could have a big effect on the people that know me, and a huge effect on anyone seeing me or my name for the first time.

That’s why I do tend to check the context if I see or hear my name mentioned somewhere. It’s not about checking mentions are always positive, and getting upset if they aren’t (Like famous actors, I never read reviews!). But checking that things haven’t been mis-attributed, taken out of context, or words put in my mouth.

But I definitely don’t expect websites to seek my approval before they publish anything about me, or for them to necessarily remove it if I complain. And a removal request wouldn’t be triggered by a positive or negative response. It’s dependant on whether the mention is truthful, although I would expect a right to reply for a negative response, and they should be asking for my response before publication. It’s good journalistic practice and also good from a legal standpoint.

And anything I do online is done with the knowledge that it could be re-used, re-compiled, or twisted with, or without my knowledge, and that although technology and good working practices should mean I have a chance to respond to any damaging mentions, hopefully I’m now findable enough that anything out of context will be obviously so, by comparison to my blogging, twittering, facebooking etc. There will be rotten apples online as well as offline, and having control of a brand, even a personal one, will have a limited impact at best.

At the end of the day, perhaps the best way to ensure a consistent online identity is to be open, and swamp anything out of character with quality insights into what you and I are really about?

I’m really interested to hear what other people think, although I’d like to stress this is about identity rather than a place to spam online reputation management services…

(Funnily enough I just logged into Flickr to find the above image: Who Am I by stevec77, and found a message asking to use one of my images for an article on lolcats. Having to register to agree to let them publish it, and in the process having to sign up for emails as part of the Ts and Cs is pretty rubbish, but hey, I’m always interested in crowd powered media. And lolcats.)
Hizzy as a lolcat

Categories
community, social networks
Tags
appearing online, approval, character, context, digital, ditto, id, identity, legal, online, persona, removal, rock stars, web 2, web 2.0
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5 responses

A lot of it is down to the common sense

qazimod | July 23, 2008

A lot of it is down to the common sense of the individual; the more you reveal about yourself online - be it with pictures, personal information, whatever - the easier it is to have someone come along and misuse the information you’ve distributed.

It’s also the job of the “someone” to maintain a consistent and recognisable identity - if word gets around that a group or individual has been misusing information about yourself, that only gives them bad publicity…

There may be different cultural assumptions at play?

Jo | July 23, 2008

There may be different cultural assumptions at play?

Check out TigerTwoTiger, they are trying to offer online reputation

david cushman | July 24, 2008

Check out TigerTwoTiger, they are trying to offer online reputation management for businesses.
http://www.tigertwotiger.co.uk/

But they aren’t doing it from a perspective of control, they are doing it in the spirit of engagement. I think that’s the key.

I am part of a community therefore I am - and this varies from community to community.

Whose identity is it anyway?

I think you have to do your best to manage

Stirlyn | July 28, 2008

I think you have to do your best to manage your online identity as best you can but as Dan and others have said, you need to exercise a little common sense, after all free speech and all that. You do have to be mindful of how you come across online now though, I was surprised when I started a new short term contract recently that the new employer had googled my name to see what they could glean about me that was not on my CV. It made me think some more about what I want my name (which is not very common) reveals and that it truly reveals only what I want the world to know (impression management). Also where possible one should report sites that steal your identity and mis-use it. I found some twitter rip-off that had my twitter ident but it was some russian porn site. I did report that one

[...] I’ve written about this in the past in regards

10 social media blog posts to read this week « Emerson Direct Marketing Observations | July 28, 2008

[...] I’ve written about this in the past in regards to whether your online identity is alligned with your offline identity and Dan Thornton’s article takes it one step further. Check out his post, Is your online indentity in your control? [...]

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