You might not realize it, but today our reputation precedes us everywhere we go. Before a important meeting, interview, or introduction with you, many people do a quick Google search and learn more about you. If you haven’t examined your online presence recently, it might be time that you did a quick search to find out what the internet reveals about you. Unlike Joan Jett who didn’t “give a d— about her bad reputation,” as an educator and professional it’s important to review our digital profile and make sure that the reputation that precedes us is a good one!
In “9 Essential Online Reputation Management Tips for Educators,” Jennifer Bridges recommends several strategies to manage your online reputations. Bridges suggests you start by doing a Google search. Look to see which social media sites show up in the search. If you don’t want these accounts showing up, you need to go into the settings on each social media account and make sure they are not linked to google. http://eputationdefender.com/blog/professionals/9-essential-online-reputation-management-tips-for-educators
This is just the tip of the iceburg! You may find more uncomfortable information in the search. To remove this information, you may find you have to contact websites and google to have the information removed. Leslie Fantone has written an excellent article on how to clean up your online results aptly called, “How to clean up your Google Search Results.” If you see anything in your search results that makes you cringe, I encourage you to read this article and take the necessary measures to clean up your reputation. https://www.internetreputation.com/blog/clean-up-your-search-results-to-safeguard-your-reputation-privacy-online/
Jennifer Bridges also encourages the two-fold strategies of watching your posts and content and creating positive content. Bridges gives examples of teachers being fired for posting pictures of themselves with a glass of wine, and in a bikini! Yes! Your innocent vacation picture may prevent you from getting a new job, or cause you to lose the one you have. These examples should have teachers everywhere rushing to Facebook to check their privacy settings. More egregious, however, are the examples of teachers using Facebook to post complaints about their schools, jobs, or students. Just don’t do it. Not only is it unprofessional and reflects poorly on your character, it can (and some would argue should) get you fired!
Instead, Bridges says, create a positive and professional online presence that showcases your skills and creativity. You want these blogs, tweets and posts to show up first on any search. Bridges suggests that you post responses on educational forums and publish articles or offer to be interviewed for a blog or podcast. (Not making any hints here to my fellow educators about being interviewed for my blog. No. I wouldn’t do that!) These positve posts should start pushing up into the search results, creating a digital reputation that you can be proud of.
Think about your online reputation as a brand. Ben Johnson in “What’s Your Teacher Reputation,” states that your brand is “what you’re known for and how other people perceive you.” https://www.edutopia.org/article/whats-your-teacher-reputation You might want to consider creating an online brand. If you consider yourself a caring, empathic teacher, why not share an article on trauma informed education. If you are up on the latest digital tools, why not create a video that teaches other educators how to use it in the classroom? Make sure that your brand is how you present yourself in public and online. You might be the consumate professional in the classroom, but if your social media accounts are full of college party pictures, watch out! Your reputation may be preceding you!
The Learning Curve 