The Blog For Entrepreneurs

In fact, they remain one of Facebook’s fastest growing demographics. If you think you’re too old for Facebook, you’re not. Just ask Betty White.

With more than 400 million users, according to the popular social networking site, Facebook has become a staple in online communication and online reputation management (ORM). Whether you work for a multinational corporation or as an independent entrepreneur, ORM influences customers on whether to work with you or not.

ORM is generally defined as monitoring yourself and/or your business by looking for unfavorable online content and dispelling it. For example, if you Google search your name and immediately see somebody’s blog post that bashes your customer service, then your online reputation gets hurt. Other things that ruin online reputations include unfriendly domain names (Your Company + Complaints) purchased by a disgruntled customer and Yelp reviews that don’t do you any justice.

You cannot combat all of these things with Facebook, but it will certainly help in search engine results. Once you’re a Facebook member, you’ll find ways to get feedback and advice directly from customers, thus reducing the likelihood that they will criticize you elsewhere.

Here are some basic steps to help get you on the path to managing your online reputation via Facebook:

Start a profile. It’s obvious, but the task may seem daunting if nobody tells you what you need to get going: an e-mail address. Wow, that’s not hard. Then you need pick a “network” to join. You’re welcome to choose more than one, but as a professional it’s safest to go with the city in which you live. It’s highly uncommon for a Facebook user to not have a profile picture. Find a professional shot of your smiling mug to share. The next steps might annoy you. You’ll be prompted to tell the world everything about you. Don’t. That’s for the 16-year-olds who think they love everything MTV throws their way.

Keep it brief. If you’re here to network, no one wants to read your 1,900-word bio. They’re on Facebook to connect and follow up with colleagues and clients. Write a short and sweet bio that sums up your role in your company and maybe brag about your best skills. As far as filling in your favorites, keep that to a minimum, too. It’s fine to show people that you’re personable and human, but no one wants to know that you have a guilty pleasure for Hannah Montana movies.

Check yourself. Privacy settings on Facebook have made headlines for months now, and as a result, almost three-quarters of the 18- to 29-year-old crowd said they have changed privacy settings on a social networking site (SNS), according to the Pew Research Center. In this case, follow the youth. The best standard is to set everything visible to “Only friends.” Ensure that your profile will pop up if others search for it, but don’t let just anybody see your page. Better safe than sorry.

You’ll want to navigate to Account>Privacy Settings>Applications, Games and Websites to handle the information Facebook gives to its partner websites. Chances are good that you’ve seen the row of icons on a website. Facebook’s “Like” button, the Twitter bird and StumbleUpon’s logo are a few of the clickables that let you share whatever you’re reading/seeing/hearing direct to the respective SNS. Those are the partner websites, and there are tons of them.

Be yourself. Seriously, being on Facebook resembles being back in college, at a party where there’s a lot happening from which you’d rather abstain … unless of course the obnoxious guests are never invited. Don’t feel pressured into “liking” something or adding somebody if there’s no cost-benefit to doing so. He or she may be the annoying person at the party who peddles everything the site has to offer: vampire games, alcoholic beverage suggestions and even “superpoking,” which sounds inappropriate online and at parties.

Don’t be afraid. There is no age requirement for Facebook, so stop setting one. Make use of this free, popular site to help keep your reputation clean. Get on there to reconnect with customers and show them a more personal side. Answer questions and solve problems. Use Facebook as a springboard to take a more active role in managing your reputation online.