Teach Your Kids to Protect Their Online Reputations

Social networking, blogging, and sharing photos or videos online offer creative ways for teenagers to express themselves while interacting with their friends. But what your kids post online can create a lasting reputation — good or bad — that may continue to help them or haunt them for years to come.

While a good online reputation may make it easier for them to get into the college of their choice or find a great job, something they post that seems cool or funny today may prove embarrassing or detrimental in the future.

The Value of a Good Online Reputation

Employers and universities increasingly use the Internet to learn more about promising applicants. It's not that they're snooping; they're just using all of the tools available to help them make good hiring and placement decisions. Unfortunately, an impressive resumé or high school transcript can be quickly tarnished — and an opportunity lost — because of online evidence of unwelcome attitudes or inappropriate behavior.

The same rules apply even after your kids have been accepted by their top-choice college or have landed their dream job. For example, a flight attendant at a major airline was fired for posting provocative photos of herself, in her uniform, as part of her social networking site. Similarly, a young congressional staffer who blogged about her sexual exploits ended up losing her job and later had to file bankruptcy.

There also have been numerous cases where high school and college students faced disciplinary action-from suspension to expulsion-when school officials discovered Web content that confirmed drinking, drug use or other inappropriate behavior.

Social networking is popular-and here to stay

More than half (55 percent) of all American teens (ages 12-17) who are online use social networking sites, according to a 2006 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. So there is a good chance your kids either have their own site already-even if you don't know about it-or routinely visit their friends' sites.

"Social networking sites are the reality television of the Internet," says Jon Gibs, senior director of media, Nielsen//NetRatings. "Social networking is not a fad that will disappear. If anything, it will become more ingrained in mainstream sites, just as reality TV programming has become ubiquitous in network programming."

Creating and Protecting a Good Online Reputation

You can help your kids understand the importance of creating a good online reputation, and teach them how to protect it. Start by learning a few essential facts, and following these tips:

• Find out how your kids look online. If your kids already have blogs or use social networking sites, take a look to see how they are presenting themselves to the world. Next, enter your teenager's name into some popular search engines, such as Google or MSN, to see what pops up. Remember, your kids' online reputations are shaped by what other people say about them as well as what they say about themselves. Finally, use the "alerts" feature provided by some search engines to receive notifications of any new mentions of your kids online.
• Social networking is not private. For many teenagers and young adults, social networking is something they do with their friends, so they tend to think of their blogs and social networking sites as private communication. Nothing could be less true. Once your kids post something to the Internet, chances are it can be seen by anyone using a search engine. Using privacy settings to control who can view their sites can help, but there is no guarantee that someone on their approved list won't forward an incriminating photo or blog text to someone else. Remind your kids that anything they would be embarrassed to have you see probably isn't going to look good to a prospective employer or college admissions officer, either.
• The Internet is forever. If you change your mind about something you've written on paper, you can tear it up or burn it and it's gone. The Internet doesn't work that way. Search engines often use cached pages to reduce the strain on overworked servers. Basically, this means the search engine has taken a snapshot of a Web page and continues to display it in response to search requests. In other words, just because your kids remove those embarrassing Spring Break photos from their Web site doesn't mean they're really gone.
• Do your research. Before your kids post anything on a social networking site, or elsewhere on the Internet, find out if the site is protected by Robots.txt, which prevents pages from being archived by search engines. To find out if a site can be archived, contact the Web site host provider, or log onto The Internet Archive (archive.org) and type the name of the site into its Way Back Machine. If a site archive is displayed, you have your answer: Content posted on that site can be archived, searched and displayed forever.

The Internet is an amazing resource, and it is quickly becoming a mainstay of personal and professional life for millions of people worldwide. During the years when your children are completing their education and beginning their careers, the Internet will be even more ubiquitous. A little common sense and good judgment now will help to ensure that your children's online activities support and help them achieve their future goals.