online reputation - News, Features, and Slideshows

Social networking, and the broader concept of online privacy, have been under some rather intense scrutiny over the past couple of weeks. The issues at Google--voracious indexer of all things Internet, and Facebook--the largest social network and number one most visited site have made many users more acutely aware of what information is available about them on the Internet. However, your online reputation is being used in ways you may not be aware of, and could cost you.

Consumers have very little patience for online stores, e-banks and travel sites that slow down, act erratically or crash during busy transaction seasons, according to a new study from Gomez, a provider of Web performance optimization tools and services.

You must monitor what people are saying about you in order to keep your reputation online intact. These five free tools will help you stay up to date whenever you're mentioned.

A career coach provides tips on making the best impression in online settings, such as an 80-20 rule for mixing professional and personal tweets

Small business owners face numerous anonymous threats in the Internet era. While keeping bullies, trolls and extortionists at bay online is similar to what you should do in real life, repairing the damage they can do to your business requires a different set of reputation management skills that make the online 'noise' they create disappear.

Several months ago when Twitter introduced its lists feature, social media consultant Allen Mireles checked to see which lists included her. "I wanted to see if the lists I was on were a reflection of how I wanted to be viewed on Twitter," she says. She found two surprises: A porn star had included her on a list and another user listed her under "people I've seen naked"-a surprise, she says, because she had never met the person.