Pew Internet and American Life just released a report speaking to how different social media users protect their online reputation via their privacy settings.  This information is very timely especially after Facebook’s recent updates to their privacy policy.

According to the report, more people are concerned about the online reputation now than ever before.  “57% of adult internet users now use search engines to find information about themselves online, up from 47% in 2006” (pewinternet.org).  Have you “Googled” yourself? Not only did they find that more people are controlling their online reputation, but young adults are more likely to manage their reputation by customizing what they share with the universe and who they share it with.

Now initially this is the opposite of what I would have guessed, but after thinking about it some more, I doubt my mom would even know how to update her privacy settings in Facebook.

How are young adults managing their online reputation on Facebook?  They are limiting the amount of personal information included in their profile, changing privacy settings, deleting unwanted comments people post on their wall and de-tagging photos.  Majority of power Facebook users do these things on a regular basis, but that doesn’t necessarily protect their online reputation.  Get more information on how to protect your personal brand and do more than just update your Facebook privacy settings to manage your online reputation.