by W. Diane Van Zwol

Created on: December 26, 2012   Last Updated: January 02, 2013

Your online reputation will follow you wherever you go, so maintaining a good online reputation is important. Because online ‘footprints’ are a trail that you leave behind on the Internet, treading carefully and cautiously is vital to your online survival.

Understanding online ethics is important for web masters, as well as those who use social media web pages or create their own blogs.

The freedictionary.com defines ethics as “a set of principles of right conduct” and “a theory or a system of moral values”.

In other words, when in doubt, always do what is right online.

Consider the following tips for maintaining a good online reputation.

For web masters, search engine optimization (SEO) offers appropriate guidelines for websites and web page construction. The key words and key phrases you incorporate will help to ensure that you have viewers beyond your family members and friends. Because your Internet outreach is global in scope, you will want any data transmitted electronically to reflect you and your reputation in an appropriate manner. Remember that your online reputation can have repercussions with respect to your family and friends.   

Maintaining an online reputation that is good does not mean that everything on a website or web page has to be perfect. Ideally, that should be possible, but seldom is a reality, especially for a web master who is just starting out. Editing websites and web pages carefully is a good practice to get into, so where there are imperfections, resolving them as soon as possible will help you to maintain a good online reputation.

The language that you use on the Internet is important and reflects both you and your personality. Different forms of language abuse on your web site or web page can and will affect your good reputation adversely. They will also cause you to lose ratings, as well as viewers and thus reduce your potential Internet income.

Remember that social media web pages also reflect your personal set of values. While others may find it fun to abuse or mock you on your social web page, it is ultimately a reflection of them and their own social values. How you respond to them is a reflection of yours.

Removing inappropriate social media content is generally a good idea. There are times when a reprimand may be in order. Sexually offensive material tends to upset viewers, as does different kinds of bullying. Racial and cultural issues can arise on social media web pages,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>