While my Internet has been down this week (patiently waiting for Comcast as I type) some of the thunder of this post has been stolen by none other than the President, but it’s worth posting none the less. Over the weekend, I finished reading Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Granted the book offered insight for those of us engaged in social networking and PR as ways to improve how we interact with folks within the space as we build up our influence among our networks.  I could go on and on in a big review about how the book offered X,Y,Z benefits and why YOU should buy it, instead I am going to dive into who should be reading this book – College Students and Young Professionals.

While this may be one of those Why is he saying this? moments, but flip back to the President’s speech the other day to students Watch what you put on Facebook. Granted he said that everyone does dumb things that can come back to haunt them, but he didn’t get into what kinds of dumb things employers may see that can be a detractor in job searches, granted TA doesn’t either, but it highlights the importance of an online reputation.

This is something that should be hammered home in college classrooms across the nation. This is not only important for the PoliSci, Communications or Pre-Law students, but rather for everyone.  Think about a few of the stupid things that you’ve done in your past, did they wind up online? Probably not, but if they did, you know that it is a pain to make them disappear, especially if it is our friends who think that its funny to show them to the world.

With that in mind, when I look at my cousins’ pages, I cringe and try to offer them some feedback. Granted it may be cool to show off pictures of you and your buddies hitting the bong or getting so drunk that your friends draw on you, having them posted online can lead to you losing a job or missing out on landing one. Here & here are examples of the former.

On the later, I can speak in more concrete terms. As the reputation watchdog for my company, I have seen these kinds of posts and worse using my various search tools. Perhaps the most egregious one could have been avoided if the candidate thought before Tweeting. In this day and age, it is naive to think that large companies do not monitor their trademark on the social space and saying: X Company is sweating me hard right now, I’ll rape them for the best salary; I don’t even want to work for X, but a check is a check right? It’s a great starting point; or When the hell is this company going to make me a better offer? I pwnd them – is sure to come back to bite you in the end.

Those statements (with some editing) were things said by candidates at my company that were passed along to the hiring managers. They also are not unintelligent students, but from Ivy League and top tiered universities. So the question becomes would they have avoided these posts if they had some education on an online reputation? I think so.

What do you think? Have you seen these while managing your company’s online reputation?

While my Internet has been down this week (patiently waiting for Comcast as I type) some of the thunder of this post has been stolen by none other than the President, but it’s worth posting none the less. Over the weekend, I finished reading Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Granted the book offered insight for those of us engaged in social networking and PR as ways to improve how we interact with folks within the space as we build up our influence among our networks.  I could go on and on in a big review about how the book offered X,Y,Z benefits and why YOU should buy it, instead I am going to dive into who should be reading this book – College Students and Young Professionals.

While this may be one of those Why is he saying this? moments, but flip back to the President’s speech the other day to students Watch what you put on Facebook. Granted he said that everyone does dumb things that can come back to haunt them, but he didn’t get into what kinds of dumb things employers may see that can be a detractor in job searches, granted TA doesn’t either, but it highlights the importance of an online reputation.

This is something that should be hammered home in college classrooms across the nation. This is not only important for the PoliSci, Communications or Pre-Law students, but rather for everyone.  Think about a few of the stupid things that you’ve done in your past, did they wind up online? Probably not, but if they did, you know that it is a pain to make them disappear, especially if it is our friends who think that its funny to show them to the world.

With that in mind, when I look at my cousins’ pages, I cringe and try to offer them some feedback. Granted it may be cool to show off pictures of you and your buddies hitting the bong or getting so drunk that your friends draw on you, having them posted online can lead to you losing a job or missing out on landing one. Here & here are examples of the former.

On the later, I can speak in more concrete terms. As the reputation watchdog for my company, I have seen these kinds of posts and worse using my various search tools. Perhaps the most egregious one could have been avoided if the candidate thought before Tweeting. In this day and age, it is naive to think that large companies do not monitor their trademark on the social space and saying: X Company is sweating me hard right now, I’ll rape them for the best salary; I don’t even want to work for X, but a check is a check right? It’s a great starting point; or When the hell is this company going to make me a better offer? I pwnd them – is sure to come back to bite you in the end.

Those statements (with some editing) were things said by candidates at my company that were passed along to the hiring managers. They also are not unintelligent students, but from Ivy League and top tiered universities. So the question becomes would they have avoided these posts if they had some education on an online reputation? I think so.

What do you think? Have you seen these while managing your company’s online reputation?

While my Internet has been down this week (patiently waiting for Comcast as I type) some of the thunder of this post has been stolen by none other than the President, but it’s worth posting none the less. Over the weekend, I finished reading Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Granted the book offered insight for those of us engaged in social networking and PR as ways to improve how we interact with folks within the space as we build up our influence among our networks.  I could go on and on in a big review about how the book offered X,Y,Z benefits and why YOU should buy it, instead I am going to dive into who should be reading this book – College Students and Young Professionals.

While this may be one of those Why is he saying this? moments, but flip back to the President’s speech the other day to students Watch what you put on Facebook. Granted he said that everyone does dumb things that can come back to haunt them, but he didn’t get into what kinds of dumb things employers may see that can be a detractor in job searches, granted TA doesn’t either, but it highlights the importance of an online reputation.

This is something that should be hammered home in college classrooms across the nation. This is not only important for the PoliSci, Communications or Pre-Law students, but rather for everyone.  Think about a few of the stupid things that you’ve done in your past, did they wind up online? Probably not, but if they did, you know that it is a pain to make them disappear, especially if it is our friends who think that its funny to show them to the world.

With that in mind, when I look at my cousins’ pages, I cringe and try to offer them some feedback. Granted it may be cool to show off pictures of you and your buddies hitting the bong or getting so drunk that your friends draw on you, having them posted online can lead to you losing a job or missing out on landing one. Here & here are examples of the former.

On the later, I can speak in more concrete terms. As the reputation watchdog for my company, I have seen these kinds of posts and worse using my various search tools. Perhaps the most egregious one could have been avoided if the candidate thought before Tweeting. In this day and age, it is naive to think that large companies do not monitor their trademark on the social space and saying: X Company is sweating me hard right now, I’ll rape them for the best salary; I don’t even want to work for X, but a check is a check right? It’s a great starting point; or When the hell is this company going to make me a better offer? I pwnd them – is sure to come back to bite you in the end.

Those statements (with some editing) were things said by candidates at my company that were passed along to the hiring managers. They also are not unintelligent students, but from Ivy League and top tiered universities. So the question becomes would they have avoided these posts if they had some education on an online reputation? I think so.

What do you think? Have you seen these while managing your company’s online reputation?

While my Internet has been down this week (patiently waiting for Comcast as I type) some of the thunder of this post has been stolen by none other than the President, but it’s worth posting none the less. Over the weekend, I finished reading Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Granted the book offered insight for those of us engaged in social networking and PR as ways to improve how we interact with folks within the space as we build up our influence among our networks.  I could go on and on in a big review about how the book offered X,Y,Z benefits and why YOU should buy it, instead I am going to dive into who should be reading this book – College Students and Young Professionals.

While this may be one of those Why is he saying this? moments, but flip back to the President’s speech the other day to students Watch what you put on Facebook. Granted he said that everyone does dumb things that can come back to haunt them, but he didn’t get into what kinds of dumb things employers may see that can be a detractor in job searches, granted TA doesn’t either, but it highlights the importance of an online reputation.

This is something that should be hammered home in college classrooms across the nation. This is not only important for the PoliSci, Communications or Pre-Law students, but rather for everyone.  Think about a few of the stupid things that you’ve done in your past, did they wind up online? Probably not, but if they did, you know that it is a pain to make them disappear, especially if it is our friends who think that its funny to show them to the world.

With that in mind, when I look at my cousins’ pages, I cringe and try to offer them some feedback. Granted it may be cool to show off pictures of you and your buddies hitting the bong or getting so drunk that your friends draw on you, having them posted online can lead to you losing a job or missing out on landing one. Here & here are examples of the former.

On the later, I can speak in more concrete terms. As the reputation watchdog for my company, I have seen these kinds of posts and worse using my various search tools. Perhaps the most egregious one could have been avoided if the candidate thought before Tweeting. In this day and age, it is naive to think that large companies do not monitor their trademark on the social space and saying: X Company is sweating me hard right now, I’ll rape them for the best salary; I don’t even want to work for X, but a check is a check right? It’s a great starting point; or When the hell is this company going to make me a better offer? I pwnd them – is sure to come back to bite you in the end.

Those statements (with some editing) were things said by candidates at my company that were passed along to the hiring managers. They also are not unintelligent students, but from Ivy League and top tiered universities. So the question becomes would they have avoided these posts if they had some education on an online reputation? I think so.

What do you think? Have you seen these while managing your company’s online reputation?