In yet another sign that the apocalypse Internet Age, is fully upon us, The Christian Science Monitor has announced that it will cease publishing its weekday print editions and convert into an online only operation, with the exception of a new weekend magazine. While this news is not directly applicable to the Online Reputation Management Industry,  it is an important symbol of a fast-turning tide in media consumption. Whereas people would traditionally turn to magazines, newspapers or television for information, they are now turning to the Internet in greater numbers.

The internet is increasingly becoming a larger part of people’s lives. From Online Dating to Online Trading, to eCommerce, people are more apt to use the net for transactions that were largely off line endeavors just a few years ago. CSM moving away from print may signal a new paradigm for news services who are struggling with declining circulation in a wired world.

We’ve spent time writing on the Reputation.com Blog about the perils of inappropriate social networking with regard to college applications, but we caught a new story which puts a whole different twist on the dangers of poorly managed online profiles.

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With record numbers of applications pouring into the nation’s top universities this fall, college admissions officers have begun to notice a strange trend. As competition for admission into selective universities becomes tighter and applicants are seeking additional ways to distinguish themselves, some students (or their parents) have begun sending anonymous messages to admissions officers that sabotage other applicants.

Pointing admissions officers to unflattering Facebook or MySpace profiles of competing students, sneaky applicants are hoping to disqualify others to increase their own chances of admission. What’s even worse,  because many of the anonymous saboteurs are fellow classmates of the victim, privacy settings are likely to be ineffective in preventing access to a student’s dirty laundry. As if that weren’t bad enough, some of these schemers have even resorted to spreading outright lies about their peers to help dissuade colleges.

While some colleges don’t take these anonymous messages seriously, there are others who pursue every bit of information when they’re making a decision. If all that stands between you and another applicant is an embarrassing picture or a distortion of your character, that could be all that it takes to move your name to the rejected pile.

As disturbing as it is that this type of behavior would take place, it is just one more example of the importance of maintaining a strong online reputation. As the leader in the Online Reputation Management Industry, Reputation.com is proud to offer a variety of services to help keep you looking good on the web.

Reputation.com Blog recently found this interesting article in the New York Times Magazine that chronicles the difficulty one man encounters when trying to meet up with his 700 Facebook friends at a Toronto bar.

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One day this past summer, I logged on to Facebook and realized that I was very close to having 700 online “friends.” Not bad, I thought to myself, absurdly proud of how many cyberpals, connections, acquaintances and even strangers I’d managed to sign up.

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So I decided to have a Facebook party. I used Facebook to create an “event” and invite my digital chums. Some of them, of course, didn’t live in Toronto, but I figured, it’s summer and people travel. You never know who might be in town. If they lived in Buffalo or Vancouver, they could just click “not attending,” and that would be that. Facebook gives people the option of R.S.V.P.’ing in three categories — “attending,” “maybe attending” and “not attending.”

After a week the responses stopped coming in and were ready to be tabulated. Fifteen people said they were attending, and 60 said maybe. A few hundred said not, and the rest just ignored the invitation altogether. I figured that about 20 people would show up. That sounded pretty good to me. Twenty potential new friends.

On the evening in question I took a shower. I shaved. I splashed on my tingly man perfume. I put on new pants and a favorite shirt. Brimming with optimism, I headed over to the neighborhood watering hole and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Eventually, one person showed up.

The article is worth a read, not only because it is well written, but also because it shows the shift between virtual friendships and real world relationships. Reputation.com has shown how social networking is changing the way people connect online. As this piece shows, the Facebook phenomenon may be changing the way we connect in the real world, as well.

Reputation.com Blog recently came across this penetrating story in the San Diego Weekly Reader that deals with the real world effects of online activities in the digital age. Reputation.com Blog has covered the recent phenomenon of employers conducting Online Background Checks when evaluating employees or potential hires (see this Reputation.com blog post for more on this).

Michael Hemmingston discusses doocing (read the article) and employees who are terminated or disqualified for employment based on their “escribitionism.”

Solana Beach, summer 2002. A job interview. “So you like to post on the Internet a lot,” said the human resources person. “Yeah,” I said. “How do you know?”

“Did some online investigating.” The term “to google” was not yet widely used. “I came across your two blogs and some posts you made on news groups, and there was a listserv. And something about you posting under a pseudonym at UCSD.”

“Do you always do this?” I asked.

“We do now. A lot of companies are running Net checks during prescreen.”

“I see,” I said, wondering if anything embarrassing, scandalous, or plain stupid had been uncovered from my early years as a keyboard cowboy.

“Tell me, would you ever blog about your work environment, if you were to be hired here?”

“Not at all,” I replied.

“Even in code?”

“I’m sure I would have better things to blog about,” I said, waving my hand as though it were nothing. I quickly added, “You know, life, concerts, politics, the weather…”

“Have you ever blogged about previous jobs?”

“You tell me,” I said jokingly. “You read my blogs.”

My interviewer’s face was stone-cold straight.

I had, but that blog no longer existed. “No,” I responded. I knew the interview wasn’t going any further. I was told they would call me within 48 hours. The call never came.

The article continues with various stories of people losing out on jobs based on unprofessional online behavior, showing the importance of Online Reputation Management in the 21st Century.

It is nothing new to say that the Internet, over the last few years, has become increasingly interactive. Social networks and the rise of blogs and tweets have changed the way we connect to others through the internet. Heck, the change was so pronounced, they even coined a new term for it. Increasingly, people are not merely passively absorbing the media given to them, they are responding to and reinterpreting that media. While this is not new either, the speed at which these responses can be transmitted and then picked up by others is infinitely faster given the shared online thought process that typifies Web 2.0.

Take, for instance, the video below, titled simply “Palin Song”:

Media is no longer a one-way street. With a computer and access to the Internet anyone can participate in the discussion and effectively become a participant in the media itself. As long as access to the Internet continues unfettered this trend will absolutely continue and grow in depth and scope. It is human nature to interact with our environment, and the Internet has made thought accessible by anyone who is plugged in. We’ve already seen how the growth of blogs has come to affect the news cycle; facts are endlessly checked by untold numbers of would-be Woodwards and Bernsteins. This new, interactive chapter in the media is just getting started. It’s a brave new Internet world.