What hasn’t changed is that you have no choice in the fact of having a reputation - and thus, an identity – and online just happens to be where most people today will look for you. But you do have some choice in how you are perceived, in what the rest of the world sees about you – in market-speak, your brand.

Our immediate reaction usually is to notice the extremes. They include those who expect their online identity to cause their career success, who spend extraordinary amounts of time focused on “branding” themselves online nearly every waking moment. The opposite extreme includes those who expect their identity to be stolen immediately if they appear online, who disavow the whole online identity thing, preferring to remain anonymous, and as much as possible, unknown.

Both extremes are just that. A reasonable middle ground allows you to take advantage of the online world’s marketing features, and yet not spend most of your waking hours feeling that you’re working at it.

Why does this matter to professionals?

Online networking has redefined our definition of community. For example, our individual professional community used to include just those we met face-to-face in our academic departments, and at regional and national conferences. But, as more of us are beginning to interact in online communities, such as blogs, forums and membership sites - with people we have never met, and may never meet face-to-face - that “community” has expanded to include people from the rest of the world.

For example, a few months ago, I uploaded a PowerPoint program onto Slideshare.com and allowed public access. Within a day, I had several comments and a man in India chose it as one of his “favorites.” That opens potential for conversations, and eventually, for communities to develop around that shared interest. We are limited somewhat by language constraints, but online translation utilities are becoming increasingly sophisticated and will lower, if not eliminate, that barrier eventually.

In the employment world, it’s important to note that recruiters are now routinely checking the online identity of job candidates before interview invitations are issued. Also, when looking for upper-level management, recruiters termed “head hunters” may troll the internet to find qualified “passive candidates” (who are not even looking for jobs). Thus, your online identity is becoming an important element in your career development and job search by increasing the odds of being found by someone who has an interest in your capabilities, potentially an employer.

What should academics do?

Here are some basics, with some questions to ask yourself.

1.  Find out what’s online about you now.

Google your own name. (Then search for your name in Pipl.com.) What comes up? How many links? Has it changed since the last time you looked? Are you pleased with what’s there? Are you accurately and adequately represented? How would you like to be seen?

2.  Look at others around you – in your profession or industry.

Google some of your colleagues, and some of the “names” in your field. What is showing up? Can you tell when individuals have made a conscious effort to manage their identity? What impression do you get of their identity? 

3.  Think about how you would like to be perceived.

What are your strengths and what form do they take? How can you help people to see your strengths and abilities? How can you help others see you as “x” (researcher, teacher, writer, innovative thinker?) Just as on a resume, you have choices and you can structure the (true) information on your profiles to reflect your preferred strengths.

If you discover that someone else has the same name as yours, perhaps you can find a different way to list yourself – with a middle initial or name, or with a dot between first and last name.

4.  Think about the ways you might present yourself that is best aligned with your strengths.

If you write well and often, you might want to blog your thoughts and knowledge of your subject. If you have great web skills, a website might work best for you. If you’re in job search mode, an online portfolio may be just enough for now. What you choose to do depends on your age and career stage, as well as your online skills. A great online identity may have little value for someone about to retire, but it may be of major value to a new graduate, or entrepreneur.

The explosion of online networking and social media sites I mentioned at the start of this article includes literally, thousands of sites, but several in particular, are well-known and heavily used by academics. The five that I think are most useful to academics are LinkedIn.com, FaceBook.com, Twitter.com, VisualCV.com and JibberJobber.com. (I’ll describe how you can use them next month.)

What is your approach to your reputation in this new world?

How will you approach your online identity – will you move forward with curiosity to learn, or will you cringe as you’re sucked backwards into it?