MANAGER MINT MAGAZINE Issue 04 | Page 54

3. Doppelganger Danger

Beware the modern industry of Doppelganger creations: new online identities for those with a tarnished Google trail. Reporter Graeme Wood wrote in New York Magazine about a Harvard classmate who was arrested for trying to hide millions of dollars in a Swiss bank account. The classmate was punished; the chargers were dropped, but the events stayed online like a “scarlet letter” in Google results.

A few years later, however, Wood noticed that the fortunes of his classmate had substantially turned. Press releases, blogs, and websites suddenly extolled the accomplishments of his wayward and repentant friend.

But something was wrong with these sites, which in every case looked flimsy and temporary, Wood noted. Sure enough, an online reputation management firm had been hired to scrub the fellow’s past record clean.

For this situation, the activities were not “black hat.” The former stories were accurate and could not be removed.

But being on the record for your true and current activities is the best way to move the record of prior occurrences down. The mistake in this case was that the efforts to replace the bad information were too effusive and stilted in their tone to ring true. It would have been more effective in this case for the executive to simply be honorable and authentic, and when in doubt, “underplay.”