Online reputation is a factor in any online community where trust is important. It affects a pseudonym rather than a person. Examples include eBay, an auction service which uses a system of customer feedback to publicly rate each member’s reputation. Amazon.com has a similar reputation mechanism in place and merchants develop their reputations across different dimensions. One study found that a good reputation added 7.6% to the price received.In addition, building and maintaining a good reputation can be a significant motivation for contributing to online communities.
To begin developing an online reputation, consider how your personal or company brand should be perceived. What is your brand identity / what is your value proposition / selling point / unique voice? Once you have developed the image you would like your constituencies to perceive, develop a strategy to build your brand. Are you seeking credibility in the marketplace (consider blogging, answering questions on LinkedIn), gain market leadership (create innovative tools for your industry) or connection (build a network of contacts in professional and/or social sites).
Once you have begun developing an online reputation it is important to try and protect it. One strategy that many people employ to ensure that they keep up with their online reputation is monitoring. Given the number of sites on the internet, it is impossible to try and manually monitor the entire internet for pages that may affect your online reputation. Tools such as Radian 6 and Google Alerts can help you to keep tabs on your online reputation
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