This is a pretty interesting idea and for once it addresses a real requirement. A lot of stories have hit the press about people getting fired or ‘dooced’ because of stuff online or not even getting jobs because of something found on MySpace.
So up pops a company that is willing to protect your reputation online.
The mistakes you make on the internet can live forever — unless you hire somebody to clean up after you.
A new startup, ReputationDefender, will act on your behalf by contacting data hosting services and requesting the removal of any materials that threaten your good social standing. Any web citizen willing to pay ReputationDefender’s modest service fees can ask the company to seek and destroy embarrassing office party photos, blog posts detailing casual drug use or saucy comments on social networking profiles.
It’s pretty reasonable too and can work great for anyone wanting to clear up a messy online history after those wild college years.
The company produces monthly reports on its clients’ online identities for a cost of $10 to $16 per month, depending on the length of the contract. The client can request the removal of any material on the report for a charge of $30 per instance.
Michael Fertik and his partners originally conceived of ReputationDefender as a way for parents to protect their children from potentially damaging postings to social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook.
Of course Facebook and MySpace are the main culprits.
Using both site-scraping robots and good old-fashioned human detective skills, ReputationDefender promises to scour the internet — particularly social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Xanga and Flickr — for materials that could threaten the author’s employability once he reaches the professional world and its army of Google-savvy hiring managers.
According to CareerBuilder.com, 26 percent of hiring managers say they have used search engines to research potential employees, and one in 10 has looked on a social networking website.
As you can see it is important now to look after your reputation online.
Source: Wired
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