by John Darer® CLU ChFC CSSC RSP
Once you choose to start using social networks for business you have the responsibility to keep them updated. Incredibly people treat this phenomenon like the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie. They think they can just "set it and forget it". Unfortunately there are consequences.
As an example, today I observed a person in this industry who has a Spoke listing that associates him with a company with which he has been dissociated for over 20 months, including tags linking him to prospective customers seeking out the former company over the Internet. A person who has not updated a profile in more than 20 months, or kept up to date with material changes in their profile could be perceived by the public as careless, lazy or not credible by a prospective customer if the truth is later discovered.
For employers and business partners who dissociate social network tags can live on and possibly, in a worst case scenario, even harm the reputation of either party through the "guilt by association" theory.
Some services, like ZoomInfo, grab whatever is out there about you on the Internet. Others like Spoke require human input.
If you leave a company make sure to change your information accordingly. When letting someone go a company should conduct a concurrent search of Internet sources to be sure that the former employee, partner, contractor is not holding themselves out, or being held out as being part of your organization.
Comments