Unless you’ve been under a rock or in some cave for the last year you’ve probably heard of Twitter. Put succinctly, Twitter is a 140 character micro-blogging service that allows you to follow other people on the network, and have them follow you in return. Really no different from any other blog-type service or network except for the 140 character limitation and the embedded follow and display functions that display on the user’s page.

Recently Twitter added a new level of functionality to its site, incorporating a search feature into the main page. The development had been announced in February, and many in the industry see the move as a step towards profitability and –possibly– a threat to Google’s status as the Lord of the Search Engines.

While Twitter is not at present a direct threat to Google, the addition of search functionality does put it squarely in the same arena as Facebook and Google. In addition to the search function, (which, it should be noted was always available at search.twitter.com, but as of March 6th has appeared on more user pages) Twitter is also adding a “trends” function that will display the most popular recent topics of site traffic. No doubt, Google and Facebook, which have both been looking for ways to expand their efforts in the social networking sphere, will take a long look at this development to see if they can innovate, copy or destroy.

“A search function offers opportunities to sell online advertising. For years there’s been a notion of capturing eyeballs and, once you have them on the site, leveraging that relationship for additional revenues,” Charles King, an analyst with Pund-IT Research, said in an interview. “I can see how it would work for certain people in an organization, but it can suck the time out of your day,” King said. “It’s not quite a defined benefit yet.”

Twitter has risen in prominence very rapidly, but with the increased popularity has come a few issues, particularly concerns over phishing vulnerabilities. Last year there was a widely-reported Twitter-based phishing campaign designed to steal account data with promises of an iPhone. Biz Stone, Twitter’s co-founder, cautioned that privacy issues surrounding text messages may arise in connection with Twitter in the future.

With so many social networks on the web today, and so many users flocking to them, how is the average netizen supposed to know where they belong? Never fear, Reputation.com is here to give you some guidance.

First, some background. The Internet itself is as a sort of social network and has always been. Beginning with ARPAnet, then bulletin boards and Usenet, on to the World Wide Web and the current cast of MySpace wannabes, social networks are at their core just about people communicating with other people.

As an extension of this concept it is important to realize that most every social network today — MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, etc. – has groups that cater to specific interests. In to fixed gear bikes? There’s a group for that. Did you attend the University of Montana? There’s a group for that. Think that Chris Gaines is NOT Garth Brooks? Well, there’s no group for that, but you could start one! Point being, social networks are built for people to use them, and in addition to features such as blogs, forums, personal profile pages, event invitations, and comments, there are myriad ways to wring the maximum benefit from social networks.

So, which social network do you choose? Most Internet-users tend to follow a pattern when it comes to social networks: They dabble in a few off the bat and then settle for a smaller number of networks that they can maintain a more regular presence on. You can save yourself a little trouble and time by starting with the social networks your friends currently inhabit. It shouldn’t take much work, depending on the site, to link up with existing profiles and start networking like a pro. Over time you may discover that you’re just not that into one network or the other. That’s OK. There are many more out there to choose from, and although the site will miss you it likely has many, many more users so you won’t be missed for long.

That being said, there are some things to keep in mind as you flirt with social networking.

1. Never pay to join a social network. There are so many social networks on the Internet, why someone would pay to be a part of the action is beyond this author. Maybe it has something to do with “premiumization?”

2. Protect your assets online. Be careful when using personal information online. Net newbies are prime targets for scammers, from phishers to exiled Nigerian queens.

3. You don’t have to be friends with everybody. Oftentimes a new user to a social network will be inundated with friend requests. If you haven’t met these people in real life assume that they are roping you into a “spam-paign” to push Viagra through comments on your page.

As the social Internet has exploded with popularity and users over the last several years, there has been a substantial up tick in the number of websites that are devoted to ranking and review of everything from restaurants to radiologists. This increase in the number of doctor review sites, in particular, seems to cause a lot of angst and apprehension in the health care community. Despite this, medical professionals should realize that patients are posting their opinions on an sites like Vitals.com, Dr.Score.com and RateMD.com; in this modern era of online reviews Doctors need to get on board the Reputation Train and take steps to promote their practice in a positive light while simultaneously working to engage detractors in a constructive and healthy exchange.

At present, it is estimated that roughly 1/5 of patients use doctor review websites. Given recent trends in that sector of the web, including a recent Wall Street Journal/Harris poll, the outlook for the coming years is growth. The Wall Street Journal poll indicates that over 90% of patients are interested in referring to doctor ratings for information on trust, communications, medical knowledge, availability and office environment. There will also be a bump in the numbers due to sheer generational mathematics as more young people, who are comfortable using the Internet to guide their decisions, mature and begin to access health care more often.

Given this trend, what’s the doctor supposed to do? There were certainly no tests on how to manage Yelp reviews back in Med school. Don’t worry, Reputation.com, the Internet leader in online reputation management, has some useful tips for doctors that may help influence online reputation while minimizing bad reviews:

1. Create and complete profiles for yourself on sites that rank doctors.

This is the first step, and arguably the most important. A lot of managing online reputation is about establishing authority, so get out there early on and dominate the space. Sites like WebMD give doctors the chance to add information about their practice online, and the cost to doctors is only a few minutes to register. The benefit in having current and accurate information about a practice online cannot be understated, and web-savvy patients will recognize the efforts to engage them online and listen to their feedback.

2. Guide your patients regarding doctor-rating sites.

It is impossible, and morally questionable, to prevent patients from using websites that rate doctors. However, doctors can help themselves and their patients at the same time by determining which sites provide the most reputable and relevant information and then directing patients to them. As the number of these types of sites continues to grow, expect to see items like cost, comments and outcome information in addition to numerical ratings. Forewarned is forearmed, and being aware of which sites have the best, most accurate information will help doctors and patients benefit the most from this technology. Something as simple a handout with some cursory information about the websites you have chosen will go a long way toward keeping patients informed and helping them not only make good decisions about which sites to use, but alto to think of their doctor in a positive light.

3. Create an easy-to-use system for patients to give their feedback.

Without a doubt, the one thing medical professionals don’t want are negative user-generated comments on the Internet. Surprisingly, less than 10% of comments on the average user-generated feedback site are negative. Unfortunately, in terms of human cognition these scant traces of negativity have a disproportionate affect on peoples’ opinions, and conversely a doctor’s reputation online. Often a patient vents negatively online because it is the most convenient way to express their frustrations and they are unaware of any alternative. The curious analog to this situation is that most doctors find fault with online rating services because there is no way to respond to negative comments.

One very effective and simple way to discourage negative comments on a third party review site is to have an open and active email address. Seriously, it’s that easy. You won’t completely eliminate ticked off patients or those looking to grind an ax, but by sending a simple email to a patient after an appointment, making a brief follow-up call or sending out a mailer a doctor goes a long way towards stealing someone’s righteous thunder. In the office, a well-placed sign that invites patients to express themselves, coupled with the necessary forms, can have a tremendous affect towards making people feel comfortable talking to a doctor or his staff about their experiences, rather than the entire Internet.

4. Monitor You Reputation Online

By keeping abreast of issues that are commonly brought up when a doctor’s office is mentioned, that doctor has an opportunity to make relatively simple and effective changes that will nip the problem in the bud. Doctors may be surprised to learn that the “biggest” problems many patients have is their time in the waiting room or the tone of voice that the secretary used with them. Since review sites tend to value the most recent reviews as most relevant, doctors who address things in a timely fashion give themselves maximum benefit. Sometimes acknowledging the problem early on goes a long way to assuaging fears that the office is somehow hopelessly mismanaged. Again, patients appreciate the attentiveness and engagement.

5. Encourage the use of doctor-rating sites.

It might seem counter-intuitive, but it is a good idea since the vast majority of comments on review sites are positive. Dissatisfied patients frequently make a bigger show of their feelings, but they are substantially outnumbered in most cases. The more patients you have writing reviews, the more positive recognition you are bringing to your name, while at the same time improving the site’s accuracy. Everyone wins! A lack of positive reviews is, more often than not, not a sign of a displeased patient base. On the contrary, it is probably because the patients with something good to say are unaware of doctor review sites, or the idea hasn’t even occurred to them.

Doctors should be proactive about asking patients to rate them online. Steps as simple as sending patients a follow-up email after a visit, giving them a card to take with them, and even drawing attention to existing positive reviews can be very good, yet subtle ways to get people talking about their doctor in a positive way online. Care should be exercised not to pressure patients, but encourage them to share their positive experiences with others.

We often get asked the question “Can’t you just remove that page from Google?”  As it turns out, Google employees get asked that a lot as well.  Making the internet rounds today is a post from Google Search Quality manager Matt Cutts, where he clearly states Google’s position.  A small exerpt:

We typically say that if person A doesn’t like a webpage B, only removing page B out of Google’s search results doesn’t do any good because webpage B is still there (e.g. it can be found by going to it directly or through other search engines). In that sense, the presence of that page in Google’s index is just reflecting the fact that the page exists on the wider web.

So what should you do if you see a Google result that you don’t like?  This is what we’re here for.  First, contact our team to get a full assessment of the situation.  We know exactly how to handle results that you don’t like.  Whether it’s monitoring your online rep and attempting to have it removed with MyReputation or taking control of your own results with MyEdge, we’ve got you covered.

One of the key ways companies like ours drive traffic (i.e., potential customers) into our website is by using affiliate marketers – basically other website owners who will market reputation and privacy products on our behalf.  Here’s how it works in our case:

Step 1: These website owners (“Affiliates” as they are called) sign up for the Reputation.com affiliate program (takes but a couple of minutes) and then we review them to make sure they are good people who operate ethical websites.

Step 2: They tell their website users to go to Reputation.com and our associated web sites (like the Global Do Not Call List) by using easy-to-setup web banners or text links that we supply to them on the affiliate website.

Step 3: They sit back and watch the money flow in.  Seriously it’s that easy – we record the transactions and then pay out according to what types of plans the user chooses.

I wanted to write about this today because I think it’s a dead-simple way to make a lot of money selling in-demand products on the web.  Yesterday I signed a check for $5000 for one week of an individual affiliate’s work.  No joke.

So if you have a website and would like to make money by joining our network, sign up as an affiliate today. And if you found this post interesting, drop me a note and I’ll blog again with more advanced tips for your website.

We look forward to working with you!