Cleaning up your digital dirt

Eve Tahmincioglu • Profile • E-mail

What happens on the Internet tends to stay on the Internet.

Merry Miller, an entertainment reporter, found that out the hard way. She did an interview last year with Holly Hunter on an ABC news show, and she made so many fumbles and gaffes that it ended up on YouTube titled “TV Disaster.” To date, this video has received more than 1.5 million views and nearly 2,000 comments ridiculing the interview.

There’s nothing worse than having unflattering information about you posted on the Web. It’s even happened to me, folks.

Unfortunately, you can’t just sit back and hope it goes away. With hiring managers today checking out prospective employees on the Web, job seekers need to manage their online reputations — or their resumes could end up in the do-not-call pile.

Kirsten Dixson, author of “Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand,” calls this type of negative stuff “digital dirt.”

Recruiters are Googling you, she says, and “digital dirt” can quickly take you out of the running.

“We’ve had clients who had digital dirt about them on major news sites, but you can’t just ask to take it down. You have to find ways to sweep the dirt under the rug,” she maintains.

The first thing you need to do is Google yourself right now. Even set up a Google alert with your name so you can track all the new dirt when it first hits.

I’m not talking about defamatory information that may require legal action against the perpetrator. I'm talking about the things that may have a grain of truth in them — like how silly you looked during a television interview, or a blogger’s negative opinion about a research paper you wrote, or a MySpace confession you made when you were 17.

Burying those Internet skeletons
Many of us may want to find ways to erase the negative information about us on the Web, but that may not be the best strategy.

"What to do when you don't like the impression given by your online persona?" asks C. David Gammel, a corporate technology consultant. "The counterintuitive response is the best: Post even more content about yourself online."

However, he adds: "The content should be of a nature that is at least neutral, at best positive, for your career prospects. Blog about your professional interests. Discuss research you have conducted yourself on a topic of interest.”

Gammel believes in burying the Internet skeletons in positive cyber dust. “Once the less savory items are pushed off your first page of ego search results on Google, you'll be fine with most people,” he notes. “That's why you have to post more, not less, to get rid of the impact of those skeletons."

If you have a profile on a social networking site such as Facebook or LinkedIn, that content eventually goes to the top of Google searches when someone types in your name.

As for burying the negative information, you can politely ask a site owner to remove an item about you, and sometimes that’s works. But don’t engage in tit for tat, says Lyn Mettler, who owns Step Ahead Web Strategies, which helps businesses manage their online reputations.

“It ends up looking defensive and can get ugly very quickly,” Mettler says. “If there is misinformation and you can calmly clarify that in a post, response, comment, etc., do so, so the reader will see both sides.”

She also suggests that you enlist the help of friends. “Third-party endorsements are much more credible than someone talking about themselves,” she says.

Another tactic is to do a traditional public relations blitz, even embracing the dirt. That’s what Merry Miller did, and she ended up on “The View” talking about her notorious Hunter interview.

“Based on my personal experience, the best thing to do is address it immediately, tell the truth, don't blame anyone and try not to take it personally because most vicious bloggers move to their next target really quickly,” she says.

“Life isn't easy, but you don't have to go down with the bad stuff.”

MORE FROM CAREERS

Careers Section Front

Your Career: Entitlements of the unemployed Your Career: The spirit of giving at work Struggling companies ax 401(k) match Your Career: Be wary of that 'noncompete' Companies prefer layoffs to pay cuts Office holiday party pits money against morale Your Career: Working in new administration  The hottest places for green jobs in the U.S. To change careers, tailor your résumé Your Career: Should Election Day be a holiday? Careers Section Front   Add Careers headlines to your news reader: