Change is inevitable, especially as we grow older and learn new things about the world and ourselves.
In the past, you may have been that girl who wore her heart on her sleeve, and shared everything about herself, or you were that fiery, passionate girl who fought for your views and beliefs, and basically did whatever she wanted; but you've changed, and you like yourself better now.
You've grown up, you've become more responsible, and you're a lot more careful now with what you share or reveal to others, especially online.
You're no longer that girl from before, and yet, it seems your reputation continues to precede you.
Your old, emotional posts and crazy pictures continue to be found and talked about by people you know.
And even though you've created a shiny, new Facebook or Twitter account, your old friends still enjoy posting references to the girl you were, even to the point of posting old pictures of you, which is really embarrassing.
So how do you handle this kind of problem? What can you do to ensure that your old reputation doesn't affect the "you" you're trying to establish now? Here are some tips you should try.
1.
Awareness is key When it comes to your online reputation, awareness is the key.
Before you can even begin changing things, you need to know what you're up against.
So it's important that you Google your name and see what comes up.
You'll probably be surprised at the results - the old Livejournal or MySpace account you haven't updated in years still has references to your name, which is why people can still see it.
Once you know what you're up against, then you can take the steps to do something about it.
2.
Delete or make those accounts/pages private ASAP If you don't want these old accounts of yours continuously affecting your current image or brand, then you should really start deleting or making those accounts and pages private as soon as you can.
The more time they're left up there, the more chances of someone seeing them and knowing more about the girl you were.
And with the highly competitive world of today, one silly old post or picture of your could mean the difference between someone hiring you or rejecting you.
3.
Review your social media account settings When was the last time you reviewed your social media account settings? Are your default settings set to public? Are you conscious of the ability of your friends to post on your wall, tag you in pictures and videos, and who has access to the information you put up about yourself? You really need to review all of the social media accounts you're currently using so you can be certain that the only things most people can see and find about you is what you've allowed them to.
And if your friends enjoy tagging you in embarrassing photos and videos, you should remove their ability to tag you or set it so that they have to get your permission first before it shows that you're tagged.
Lastly, if your friends like posting on your wall about things you don't want the world to know, you can simply change your settings so that only you can post on your wall.
4.
Focus on creating content that will rank high at the search engines If there are a couple of embarrassing links or sites that mention you or pertain to you, and you don't have the ability to remove this content, the best thing to do is to publish content about you that you can control and that will portray you in a better light.
You can start by creating your own personal website or blog, update it regularly, and then make sure to do some SEO so that the site ranks highly in the search engines when people Google your name.
You can also consider creating a LinkedIn profile so you can highlight your professional career - and Google seems to like LinkedIn profiles since they usually rank well in the search engines.
The key is to overwhelm the bad with the good so that the bad and embarrassing links get buried in the back pages of Google.
Most of the time, people would only take the time to look at the first two pages of search engine results, so make sure you conquer those two pages.
Yes, change is inevitable, and sometimes we dislike it when our old life mixes in with our new, causing embarrassment and even shame.
But don't let yourself get depressed over it and start taking actions to change people's viewpoint, since honestly, you're really no longer that girl.
In the past, you may have been that girl who wore her heart on her sleeve, and shared everything about herself, or you were that fiery, passionate girl who fought for your views and beliefs, and basically did whatever she wanted; but you've changed, and you like yourself better now.
You've grown up, you've become more responsible, and you're a lot more careful now with what you share or reveal to others, especially online.
You're no longer that girl from before, and yet, it seems your reputation continues to precede you.
Your old, emotional posts and crazy pictures continue to be found and talked about by people you know.
And even though you've created a shiny, new Facebook or Twitter account, your old friends still enjoy posting references to the girl you were, even to the point of posting old pictures of you, which is really embarrassing.
So how do you handle this kind of problem? What can you do to ensure that your old reputation doesn't affect the "you" you're trying to establish now? Here are some tips you should try.
1.
Awareness is key When it comes to your online reputation, awareness is the key.
Before you can even begin changing things, you need to know what you're up against.
So it's important that you Google your name and see what comes up.
You'll probably be surprised at the results - the old Livejournal or MySpace account you haven't updated in years still has references to your name, which is why people can still see it.
Once you know what you're up against, then you can take the steps to do something about it.
2.
Delete or make those accounts/pages private ASAP If you don't want these old accounts of yours continuously affecting your current image or brand, then you should really start deleting or making those accounts and pages private as soon as you can.
The more time they're left up there, the more chances of someone seeing them and knowing more about the girl you were.
And with the highly competitive world of today, one silly old post or picture of your could mean the difference between someone hiring you or rejecting you.
3.
Review your social media account settings When was the last time you reviewed your social media account settings? Are your default settings set to public? Are you conscious of the ability of your friends to post on your wall, tag you in pictures and videos, and who has access to the information you put up about yourself? You really need to review all of the social media accounts you're currently using so you can be certain that the only things most people can see and find about you is what you've allowed them to.
And if your friends enjoy tagging you in embarrassing photos and videos, you should remove their ability to tag you or set it so that they have to get your permission first before it shows that you're tagged.
Lastly, if your friends like posting on your wall about things you don't want the world to know, you can simply change your settings so that only you can post on your wall.
4.
Focus on creating content that will rank high at the search engines If there are a couple of embarrassing links or sites that mention you or pertain to you, and you don't have the ability to remove this content, the best thing to do is to publish content about you that you can control and that will portray you in a better light.
You can start by creating your own personal website or blog, update it regularly, and then make sure to do some SEO so that the site ranks highly in the search engines when people Google your name.
You can also consider creating a LinkedIn profile so you can highlight your professional career - and Google seems to like LinkedIn profiles since they usually rank well in the search engines.
The key is to overwhelm the bad with the good so that the bad and embarrassing links get buried in the back pages of Google.
Most of the time, people would only take the time to look at the first two pages of search engine results, so make sure you conquer those two pages.
Yes, change is inevitable, and sometimes we dislike it when our old life mixes in with our new, causing embarrassment and even shame.
But don't let yourself get depressed over it and start taking actions to change people's viewpoint, since honestly, you're really no longer that girl.
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