When internet reputation companies start doing work for their clients, they tend to focus on social media. The reason is that social media is the way people get their news now. Anything that you put on social media has the potential to be seen by millions of people in a short amount of time. Never before in the history of man has, there been a medium that is so influential on millions of people at the same time. The only thing that even comes close is Super Bowl Sunday. However, that is just a single day per year. Instagram and other social media platforms get this viewership daily. We would even go so far as to say on an hourly basis.
That being said, you or your company must have a positive image on Instagram. The focus of today’s blow will be to ensure that you are maximizing your efforts in maintaining a clean public image. So, without further ado, we present to you some of the ways that you can clean up and keep that public face you so desperately need and want.
Photos
Depending on whether you are reading this for the interest of a company or personal use, the following advice may not apply. If you are trying to maintain or fix your image, it would be in your best interest to make photos private. This does not mean that the pictures you post will never be seen. All it does is limit the number of people who can view them. After making your images private, you will have to approve any person that wishes to follow you.
On the other hand, if you are a company, you want to make sure that the pictures you post are the images you want your viewers to see. Since it would not make sense to limit the number of people following your content, it needs to be the best.
In either case, you want to go through your images and remove any pictures that you no longer wish for people to see. That is not to say that no one has copied them for their consumption; it only ensures that no new followers will have access to these photos.
Platform Sharing
Many social media platforms allow their users to share with other social media platforms at the same time. This is their way of keeping you on their social media, even if it is a few seconds longer. While it may seem intuitive to share to all platforms at the same time, it is something that you will want to reconsider.
For starters, sharing on multiple platforms makes it that much harder to lock down your images. You will have to make sure that you have all the settings just right, or one of your photos may get away. There are two ways to combat this. Number one is not sharing cross-platform. The other is to make sure that you have fresh content at all times.
Second, the users of different platforms expect different content from the people they follow. What works for Instagram may not be suitable for Facebook or Twitter. There is nothing wrong with sharing the same information across different platforms, but it should be different content for each. Fresh content is something that Google strives to find. If you are sharing the same content on several sites, it will not make your popularity or ranking rise any faster.
Deletion
We have already touched on this subject, so we will not go too in-depth. If you happen to find any pictures on your personal or business account that could be viewed as unprofessional, you should remove them immediately. The rule of thumb when it comes to the professionalism of your photos is that if you would not show them to your grandmother, then it probably does not belong on the internet.
There are multiple reasons for keeping it clean. First off, your public image is at stake. Number two, when you are applying for a job or promotion, there is an excellent chance that your employer or future employer could be looking at it.
Comments & Likes
Much the same as deleting undesirable photographs, you are going to want to comb through the comments and likes. While it sounds counter-intuitive and suppressive, it is something that you need to consider heavily. While you are not the one that is making the comments or liking the page or comment, it still has a reflection on you. If you allow people to make vulgar comments on your page, it seems that you are okay with this behaviour. Keeping your comment and like section clean promotes a more family-friendly environment. After all, word of mouth is a great way to get noticed. If you have bad things on your page, the family may not recommend your page to other members of their family.
Revealing
In a world that social media and instant access exists, privacy is paramount. As we discussed previously, employers may be looking at your page. While they are not legally allowed to ask you specific questions, if you broadcast it for all to read and see, then you are consenting to them knowing this information. Discrimination for your lifestyle can be obtained without having to ask you and questions that would be deemed discriminatory. The bottom line is, make sure that you are posting only things that you don’t mind everyone knowing about you.
Conclusion
Social media can be difficult to navigate without the proper tools and knowledge. That is the reason that internet reputation companies work so hard to maintain their client’s positive image. Following the above steps will ensure that you are doing all that you can to make your public persona clean and available for anyone to see. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to give us a call, and we will be more than happy to help you with questions or concerns that you may have.