The Bailey Blog

I also am not an expert on juggling bean bags nor am I the creator of “Linglish,” which apparently is the cross between etymology and English.

I don’t live in Morrice or Rockford, Michigan – at least not anymore.

I am an adjunct instructor at Michigan State University. I have served as a legislative spokesperson. I used to be a fountain of knowledge about projects for the Michigan Department of Transportation and, of course, I work for John Bailey & Associates Public Relations.

You would find all of these things out about me – the truth, the former truth and the truly absurd – if you did a Google search of my name.

With the growth of Internet search engines like Google and Yahoo!, the amount of information one can find out about oneself is astonishing. When you start factoring in the miscellaneous web sites that specifically track people, the amount of information is either a) absurd, b) unsettling, c) somewhat amusing or d) all of the above.

It’s gotten to the point that it would behoove every one of us to spend some time on Google, Yahoo, Spock, Wink, and Pipl, not to mention the ever-expanding Wikipedia to find out a little about ourselves and the companies we work for.

Our tagline here at JB&A is, “Your reputation is our business.” It’s a great slogan, but it’s more than that. It’s a commitment we make to clients to help them understand how important their reputations are and how to keep them as polished and respected as possible. We always counsel clients about how it’s not enough just to know what’s being said about you. The old adage that the best defense is a good offense is true for the electronic age as well.

That might be tough for some of the younger generation today who are insisting on putting their lives on display for all to see at sites like Facebook and Myspace. But at least they are choosing to publicly post their antics. I don’t doubt they’ll truly regret that decision when their children become teenagers and whip out a Myspace entry to win an argument over their selection of clothing, friends and extracurricular activities. But, it is a voluntary decision.

On sites like Spock, your reputation is only as good as the coded “tags” that are associated with it by a computer that crawls through the Internet searching for ways to describe you in an ever-expanding database. That explains how one fellow who started blogging a lot about a suspected child molester is the same guy who scores high on searches for “pedophile.”

And on Wikipedia, corporations are routinely run through the public relations grinder as people edit entries to suit their own point of view, inserting their own biases and sometimes deliberately playing loose with the facts just to stir up trouble. It’s tough to keep track of these 21st century hooligans, and it’s even tougher to defend yourself against them.

Some companies have started making a point of checking their Wikipedia entries regularly to counter-edit what’s being said. It’s frowned upon by Wikipurists, which is a term I just made up but then, as far as you know, I created “Linglish,” so cut me some slack. One person even recently started another web site where you can track which companies are editing their own entries.

Apparently, if a corporation writes something positive about itself in Wikipedia or edits a negative posting, they are seen as doing something wrong. On the other hand, those who promote their personal or political beliefs about a corporation are seen as doing something positive.

It seems to me that what’s good for the crusading goose should be good for the Gander Corporation.

Whether you agree with me or not about who has the right to edit your reputation, you should take a few minutes today to follow the links in this blog and see just what people around the world are learning about you. The possibilities are more numerous than you can imagine.

Who knows, you, too, could be a juggling porn star who created a whole new language.