Should have done this last week, but I never did get a chance to put my spin on the BlogWorld experience. At my session with Ari Newman and Howard Kaushansky, not only did we discuss tracking corporate reputation, but also about personal reputation. With so many people now putting out a public persona as part of life and work, anyone working in the online space also needs to pay attention to their personal reputation online.

We had lots of good dialogue with the attendees, as well as amongst us. One of the key points raised, from me as well as through the discussion, was that deciding when to respond to potential reputation-dinging posts can be a difficult decision, because not everything is worth responding to (basically not everyone is worth having a dialog with).

Some good questions to think about before responding about an issue:

• how big is the blogger’s audience? Or, if posted on a message board, how active is that board?
• is the issue delicate enough that you might rather it die quietly, or would posting a response add more fuel to the fire?
• how forthright can you be? Since being authentic is key, if you can’t be, then perhaps leaving it alone is a better solution?

I’m not saying that these are the only things to consider, or that I am even right. My experiences with Collective Intellect’s customers vary — sometimes addressing a blogger or community directly is a good idea. Other times, a phone call or an email is a better approach. Other times, it makes sense to just watch and wait.

The key is, if you’re not watching, then you can’t make good decisions. You’re working with limited and potentially inaccurate information. Access to a dedicated service such as Media Intellect gives you the data you need to make better decisions in reputation management, and gives you the tools you need to track what happens with your response afterwards.

Tags: Analyzing Consumer Generated Media, Reputation Management //