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Have you “Googled” yourself lately? You know … enclosed your name in quotes and searched for it on Google? It’s a good idea to do so from time-to-time. You may be surprised at what turns up, especially if you’re a StumbleUpon community member.
For the uninitiated, when you search on your name be prepared to feel at least a little exposed. Google shows 95 entries for my name, although it appears that I’m not the only Shari Voigt online.
I don’t remember why I searched on my name last week, but I was not happy with what I found. Those of us with a StumbleUpon (SU) toolbar find a rating, a review, and a category next to Google search result listings for sites that have received a review. As an SU enthusiast, I’ve generally been more likely to click on sites reviewed by another SU community member. But last week, a site featuring my name was listed 3rd and 4th in Google’s search results, and that site had been mis-categorized in StumbleUpon as being an adult content site. Guess what category showed up next to my name?
It’s my name we’re talking about here, folks. I wanted that category changed NOW … make that yesterday! I’ve been working hard to build a good reputation online, but if someone searched on my name, they’d find a P_O_R_N tag next to it. Not good!
It’s all water under the bridge now, and for that I thank my friend, Kimberly Bock of Yicrosoft Directory Girl for removing my name from the title of her high-ranking, but totally innocent blog post, as well as an overworked and unappreciated volunteer force that handles SU “miscat” reports. I didn’t even know they existed until now. An SU miscat volunteer changed the category of the reviewed site to the G-rating it should have had all along. But it took several days to straighten out and I learned a few things in the process.
Stay tuned for more information. In my next post I’ll spell out exactly what you need to know to use SU more effectively while protecting your reputation online.
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on Feb 26th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
More and more people have become affected in one way or another by this Shari. I am so sorry that my post placed your name in an ‘Adult’ category at the hand of treachery.
I’m looking forward to your next post about this for sure.
on Feb 26th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
It’s been a learning experience for both of us. Thanks, Kimberly.
on Feb 27th, 2008 at 3:08 am
Hi Shari
Very interesting post - and clever to have a sequal, now I’ll have to come back
I google my name regularly to monitor my online reputation, but I haven’t tried that with the SU bar. I’ll have to do that now and see if I get something “exciting” like you did.
on Feb 27th, 2008 at 10:06 am
[...] 1. Who’s to stop someone from submitting asinine keywords for my site? Which can pose the same threat to reputaion management as SU’s tagging abuse..(Read one example of SU tagging abuse affecting reputation for this professional business woman here) [...]
on Feb 28th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Wow, this is very concerning. I just started on StumbleUpon about a week ago. I’ve worked very hard on my reputation as having a family friendly website…. I really enjoy this StumbleUpon and I hope that being part of this community will not ruin my reputation.
on Feb 28th, 2008 at 9:14 am
@Hjortur Smarason - Thanks for visiting. I can live without the “excitement,” but at least it was a learning experience.
@LongBraid - Please check out Part 2 of this article. I hope I haven’t scared you away or anyone else away from SU. My intent was only to make people aware of the problem. Part 2 explains how to fix any problems you might find and how you can avoid running into trouble to begin with. You’ll find it here: http://expressmarketingmemo.com/2008/02/27/the-two-faces-of-stumbleupon-part-2/
Thanks for visiting!
on Mar 2nd, 2008 at 9:50 am
I will check it out, one can never be too careful. I already Googled my name & it looks like everything is ok for the time being. However, I will be vigilant & keep an eye on things. Thanks for bringing this to everyone’s attention.
on Mar 7th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
[...] “The Two Faces of Stumbleupon” Part 1 [...]