Tools for Managing Online Identities

What (exactly) is an online identity? According to Wikipedia, an online identity is the social identity we create through participation in social networks and discussion forums through the sharing of our photos and posting of comments on blogs and other websites.

Sound familiar? You’ve established an online presence? You have a couple of links, have made a few blog comments and feature in a few of the SERPS? Good. But not good enough. An online presence, whether it be for a company or an individual, requires constant online reputation monitoring and management.

When it comes to online identity, you better make sure you are using the sharpest tools in the (e)shed to face the challenges of online identity management:

• Owning your identity
• Protecting your identity
• Managing your identity

It is very important to take ownership over your online identity – although we want to share things about ourselves and allow others to interact and share with us, we need to remain in control. This ties in with the issue of protecting an online identity – we don’t want people to have unauthorised access to our personal identity information. You really don’t want to face the consequences and repercussions of someone taking over our online identity – this is dangerous and can take a lot of time to recover from. Another danger of having an online identity is that people may be able to follow a “trail” of information drawn from what you have shared and deduce (new) private information that you didn’t plan to make explicitly available. By being in control, you can avoid being vulnerable and prone to identity theft.

Just as in real life, we have different identities (though not necessarily the Jeckyll and Hyde type) and need to manage the image we portray of ourselves in each of these contexts. It is also important to establish the borders between these different identities - this allows us to face the “challenges” of online identity management. Based on our personal goals and aspirations, we can make use of the tools available to enhance and refine our identity.

This can be done by synching your networks – if you have a Facebook or MySpace account, link it to other profiles you may have on Flickr, Technorati etc. By doing so, you are laying the foundations for building relationships, networking and linking opportunities. If you’re like me and like to search your name on Google (yes, I admit it) whether it be with business objectives in mind or just for the thrill of seeing your name glowing on your computer screen, online identity searching and tracking tools will come in handy. BrandsEye allows you to track mentions and aggregate your online reputation score – it can also come in handy when having to react in real-time to negative comments or mentions. You can employ tools like Twitter Search, Twing and even blog search engines. These allow you to search for your name mentions and even track your reputation.

With Twing, you are able to find out what people are saying about you in forums and discussion boards. The blog search engine, Technorati, allows you to refine your search options and parameters and even set “authority” preferences. With the best use of search parameters in play, you can take the next step and subscribe via RSS feeds to track your mentions and monitor your online reputation. Google Blog search allows you to give advanced searching options – refining your ability to search even further. Blogpulse also offers helpful search options for you to track and manage your online identity – you are able to sort by date or relevance and by using Boolean operators, add/exclude additional words. You are able to see a trend graph that positions your (brand) name popularity in comparison to your competitors. Pretty nifty.

Having an online identity is like having a baby (work with me here). It is inherently a part of you - you create it, you have to nurture it (using the tools available), and “feed” it what it needs to become self-sufficient in the big bad world. You have to protect it fiercely and make sure no one takes it from you. You then watch it grow into something you are proud of. So on that note – go forth, use the tools available, and multiply!