We are the company we keep.
It’s a fundamental truth, whether you are applying for your first job or for the presidency, and yet I think it needs constant reiterating.
All it takes is one friend to tweet something inappropriate, or tag you out at a bar the night before a presentation to cast aspersions your way. It’s the reason so many people in industries like education are leaving social media; it’s simply not worth the risk.
Fortunately, there are ways to protect your reputation on Facebook and Twitter, allowing you to continue posting on the platforms without worrying about the offline impact of an acquaintances slip-up.
Here are a list of the most important.
Turn on Timeline review.
Timeline review allows you to choose whether a post you are featured in appears on your timeline. While you can’t delete the post if you don’t want to share it, you can still remove the tag. Click here to find out how to enable Timeline review.
(For what it’s worth, Google+ features a similar system.)
Limit the reach of your posts.
On the other end, when you are the one posting, you have a way to limit who can see the post. Underneath the post box is a button that generally says ‘Friends’. Clicking that allows you to choose who the post is shared with. Take note that if you tag someone, their friends can see the post too by default. If you wish to ensure that’s not the case, click the button, and under ‘Custom’, deselect the ‘Friends of Tagged’ option. Do this even if you don’t think your tagged friends will mind who sees the post; you never know who else might glimpse it in their newsfeed.
Stop others from adding you.
Under your privacy settings, you do have the option to stop people from finding you via your e-mail, phone number, or a search engine query. Unfortunately, Facebook removed the option to hide your profile if it was searched by name, but if you really want to keep your page private feel free to use a fake name, or simply set the correct privacy terms and use a profile picture that doesn’t feature you in it.
Set your account to private.
Unlike Facebook, private on Twitter means exactly that. You won’t even be able to tag someone if they aren’t following you. Note that any public tweets made prior to activating this setting will remain public.
That’s it. Simple!
Of course, another option is simply to talk with your friends and ask them to limit what they post and tag you in. If they are worthy of the title, they will be more considerate in the future.
We hope this tips help you feel more confident about protecting your reputation online. If you think there’s anything else worth adding to this list, let us know in the comments.