Social media is in many ways changing the way we communicate in today’s world. It is also having effects on the academic life of students. Several schools and teachers are trying to use the internet to create more interesting ways of learning.
Schools are even now having social platforms where students can talk to their teachers, fellow students, and school authorities. Social media gives you as a student the opportunity to do many tasks at the same time. It gives you increased control over what you do, where you do it, as well as when and how you do it.
Young people, especially students, have been seen to be active consumers. This means that they are always on the move. Whatever information they feel is necessary for them can be gotten from a few clicks. In addition to this, they also put up their own content on social media and on the internet. This personal content can either YouTube videos downloaded with an MP3 converter, or something written.
No matter the form of content you put up or the social platform you use as a student, there are bad things that could take shape. These issues happen because you need to put in place a very good system that manages your online reputation.
Some of these issues involve you dealing with too many negative reviews from teachers or comments from classmates; being involved in a public incident that is bad for your image, or receiving accusations of exam malpractice or plagiarism.
Reputation management is very important to your progress and success as a student. This is because as a student you are already dealing with more than enough in your courses, assignments, and tests.
A 2017 HuffPost article stresses that time you spend monitoring and actively focusing on your reputation is an investment. A negative comment or accusation online could destroy your academic work or even make you feel depressed.
These negative reviews online usually come in insulting language. They are used to report false information and its final aim is to destroy your reputation as a student. When these happen, you can reduce the effect or stop the accusation by working on your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
By doing this, you can ensure that the best thing about you, either written by you or someone else, shows up on the first and second pages of the search results whenever someone googles your name.
According to Forbes, you can’t get people to see your name online if you do not have a strong SEO in place. If it is a case whereby the accusations or comments thrown at you are too serious to be ignored, then you can immediately go straight to the right authorities and report the comment. This usually happens when the comment is only made to destroy your public image rather than to correct or to instruct you.
On social platforms such as Twitch, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, there are always provisions for you to report any harmful comments or reviews made towards you.
Having understood the bad effects of negative or false comments online, we can now go on to see how to handle issues like this and get back on your feet when it happens.
According to Digital Authority, the following steps can help you successfully get back your online reputation. Most of these steps are marketing methods. They include building a website for yourself; starting a blog, writing blog posts for other websites, having powerful social media accounts, and being helpful online. Let us look at these five tips in detail.
- Website:
When people want to visit you, they come to your home. A website is like a home you build for yourself online. Building a website for yourself is a great step in getting back your online reputation.
This is because a good website tells your story, it shows off your core values and provides other people’s testimonies about you and your work. If you have a properly done website, it will always be found whenever people search for your name online.
This is helpful because people can always have a place that tells the truth about you even if other sources are making false accusations. Having a website also helps you to place importance on the things you want people to know about you.
You also have the ability to create your own rules on your website. You can share updates about your growth and progress as well as engage with fellow classmates or people who want to know more about you.
- Blog:
A blog is another great way of managing your reputation as a student. Your blog will always be on the internet as far as your payment to host it online does not expire. A blog allows you to speak to those who care to know about you or find out the truth about negative comments made towards you.
It also helps you show off your knowledge and your skills. Think of it as a way of winning people’s hearts. Once people come on your blog and see you for who you really are, they will not waste any more time in throwing away any bad things they heard about you.
- Blog posts on other websites:
Creating posts for other people’s websites also helps you manage your online reputation. This is because the people who own these blogs that you post on will stand for you no matter what.
When someone allows you to come and live in their house, it means that they trust you well enough. Also, when someone allows you to post on their blog, it also means they trust you very much. And when people see that you are trusted by other website owners, they tend to trust you more too.
- Social media:
It is very important that you have a good profile or page on your social platforms. This is because when people search for you on google, most times it is your social media accounts that come up.
By creating a strong social media accounts and posting regularly, your social media page will come up on the first page of a google search of your name. According to Entrepreneur, not only can you reach a global audience with limited resources but social media can get you a target audience.
- Be helpful online:
In our everyday lives, everyone always loves someone who is helpful. The same thing happens online. By posting on relevant sites, answering people’s questions on sites such as Quora and offering your opinion about a particular topic, people admire and trust you more. Also, your name will come up more when people search for something they need help with.And just in case you’re getting overwhelmed with any technical terms, you can always seek help. Check out this list of companies with a long history of helping folks manage their online reputation.
