As the leader in the Online Reputation Management Industry, Reputation.com is often called upon to provide additional insight to news stories regarding issues of Internet privacy, social networking and online reputation management. So, when the Providence Journal came asking for an opinion on the much publicized drunk driving case of then 20-year old Joshua Lipton, Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik was more than happy to share his thoughts.
For those unfamiliar with the case of Joshua Lipton, here are the main facts. Lipton, after doing a bit of heavy drinking, was driving his car to the store to buy cigarettes when he slammed his vehicle into two other cars. Though Lipton was left uninjured, a passenger in one of the the other vehicles, Jade Combies, was not. During Lipton’s trial, this fact was driven home with a particularly dramatic point.
Just two weeks after the accident, while Combies was recovering from her substantial injuries in the hospital, Joshua Lipton was photographed at a Halloween party wearing a prison jumpsuit with the word “Jailbird” printed on it. The picture ended up on Facebook and, in no short time, into the hands of the prosecutor. As soon as the picture was shown to a jury, Lipton’s fate was sealed.
While Reputation.com has no sympathy for the remarkably irresponsible and insensitive actions of Mr. Lipton, this story makes a compelling case for how significant a role your online identity can be in shaping opinions about your character. Thanks to massive search engines like Google and Yahoo, it’s easy for recruiters, college admissions officers and even blind dates to learn about you. As Michael Fertik advised in the Providence Journal article, “if you put it on the Internet, people are going to find it, and they will make decisions about you based on it” and that’s why it’s more important than ever to assume control of your online identity with Reputation.com’s entire suite of products.
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