Social Networks and Reputation Management - Essay Example

Besides, people are also concerned about the self image they project on the online portals. Particularly in case of celebrities like Paris Hilton, their social network accounts are accessible to a large number of people (Andrzejczyk 236). People are mostly interested in knowing about the personal life details of such celebrities. So such high profile people must be careful about what they post on the social networks. Studies have found that younger people are often more careful about maintaining their privacy on the internet (Andrzejczyk 236).

One reason for this is that young people spend more time on social networks and have greater experience with them. The second reason is that young people do care about the impact their online information could have on their career. The recent research has also shown that an increasing number of employers are getting more interested in knowing about the prospective candidates from social networks (Andrzejczyk 236). More and more companies are encouraging their HR departments to engage in such activities.

People are also aware of this fact. Many social networking users are opting for measures that would safeguard their personal information from the interested employers. Many users have adjusted their privacy settings to bar some people from accessing their sites. Some users have even gone to the extent of deleting some contacts. Researchers have come to the conclusion that the internet has made it much easier to locate the personal images of and information about the people one wants to. Google is one great aid in such a case.

Early only the secret agents used to investigate about others. Today, anyone having access to Google can do so. Pew Internet Centre has found that young people are less cautious about what they publish on net (Andrzejczyk 237). This is because most of them already have safety measures in place. Still, the strange thing is that younger adults tend to have greater instances of coming across bad experiences on the internet. The age of internet and information technology has given way to a new service that manages identities on the net.

Greater number of people and especially the professionals prefer to see themselves as a brand. They believe that managing their identity on the internet helps business. That is why many people tend to have two social networking accounts, one for personal relations and the other for business. People need to be more cautious in the age of internet. A single mistake could sometimes make one loose much in terms of personal reputation. Argument It will be practical to say that the Paris Hilton incident should not be used to pass such a generalized judgment on social networking.

It was simply the instance of a culprit getting caught red handed on the internet. In the earlier times people used to socially interact in the real space. Social networking has further modified social interactions by adding virtual space to the real social space. Social networking or no social networking, eventually it is the people who are finally responsible for safeguarding their reputations. Even when the social networking and the internet were not there, people do needed to be careful about the things that they could convey publically and the things that needed to be kept personal.

Now the very same rules apply to the internet aided social networking. People need to understand that social networking like any social space is accessible to others.