In today’s world, everyone is focused on sharing everything on social media and on the internet. Everything from sharing their location, to what their eating, along with sharing images. Social media has made the amount of images shared skyrocket to a whole new level. Go on Facebook and you will see hundreds of images. Go on Instagram and all you will see are images being shared around the world. While this can be extremely beneficial for businesses and their online reputation, the wrong image can bring a reputation down to crumbles, and once an image has been published, it’s unlikely that it can ever be unseen.
Hiding Images Is Not Erasing Images
Many people believe that hiding images is a form of personal online reputation management, and while it can hide it from certain individuals and can even be a temporary quick fix, it’s not off the internet. It’s important to read the terms of service of social media sites, as they typically state that while they do not have ownership of content published, they may act as a licensee and have the right to use any content you publish for their own use, and this includes images, even if they are hidden.
Additionally, most social media websites allow users to take screenshots or share images through direct message and to other social media platforms, which causes the image to stay online or be manipulated. A story that you may not want to be public can be kept online if you’re not careful, and can even wind up on news websites and review sites.
Images and Search Engines
When a person searches a company or a person’s name, the very first thing that shows up as a result are pictures. Many people go straight to the pictures section of search engines to find what they’re looking for. In some circumstances, the images that are returned on search results can be damaging to the person’s or company’s reputation, and depending on the source, there may be no way to remove the image.
Take Action
If you do see an image that is damaging your personal reputation or your company’s reputation, take action immediately. Contact the source and see what can be done. The best way to prevent this type of situation from occurring is to be aware of the images you post online, along with the images your colleagues and employees post online. However, it is understood that some situations cannot be avoided and a custom plan may need to be made to resolve any issue in order to protect your online reputation.
Your Reputation is Important to Us
Whether you are a single person, a small business or a large company, we understand how important it is to have brand reputation management and keep your reputation in good standing. While we do our best to educate our clients on how they can prevent situations that can damage their online reputation, we know that some situations are simply unavoidable. We have the knowledge and the experience necessary to create a plan of action to undo the consequences of poor or inappropriate images that may have been leaked to the internet.
We are dedicated to applying custom made solutions. We provide everything from reputation monitoring, review management, customer outreach, Wikipedia editing, negative search results suppression, brand monitoring to litigation support. If you are facing the reputation damage and haven’t been able to resolve the situation, please get in touch with us today at 1-888-295-7134. One of our knowledgeable reputation management consultants will be happy to accommodate.