Who would have guessed? Insurance companies can now deny mental health coverage thanks to Facebook photos! According to an article from CBC News,

“A Quebec woman on long-term sick leave is fighting to have her benefits reinstated after her employer’s insurance company cut them, she says, because of photos posted on Facebook.”

The woman, Nathalie Blanchard, had been on sick-leave because of a longtime bout with depression. How did Manulife know she wasn’t depressed anymore? Because of pictures like the one found below.

That’s it, huh? Well, I guess she looks reasonably happy standing there on the beach, but does that really mean she isn’t still suffering from depression? Blanchard’s lawyer, Tom Lavin, says no.

“I don’t think for judging a mental state that Facebook is a very good tool,” he said, adding that he has requested another psychiatric evaluation for Blanchard.

“It’s not as if somebody had a broken back and there was a picture of them carrying with a load of bricks,” Lavin said. “My client was diagnosed with a major depression. And there were pictures of her on Facebook, in a party or having a good time. It could be that she was just trying to escape.”

While I certainly feel for Ms. Blanchard, it is an unfortunate reality of the internet age that practically everything you share online is subject to a higher level of scrutiny than in the past. Even if you think, like Blanchard did, that no one else can see what you’re sharing, there is still the possibility of your information escaping your grasp.

As Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik said on Fox & Friends back in August, the notion that insurance companies could use information found online to deny or alter coverage is fast becoming a reality. It’s frightenig to image the next step. Could your web browsing habits themselves be justifiable grounds to deny coverage? What about baks and financial institutions? Could they reasonably deny a loan because of how they interpret a random Twitter update?

I’d be interested in hearing some feedback on this woman’s case. Is there anyone who thinks the insurance company was within their rights to search through this woman’s Facebook profile? If so, why?

Are you a clogger? No, I’m not talking about dancing. I’m talking about corporate blogging. While corporate blogs sometimes lack the whiz-bang and pop of personal blogs, there are many benefits to owning a piece of real estate in the blogosphere. In fact, despite their reputation for being dry and witless, more than 60 Fortune 500 companies have embraced corporate blogging, demonstrating that success depends on careful planning and precise execution.

Besides just looking cool, clogs may actually help bridge disconnects between youthful consumers and a super-conventional corporations, showing young folks that even old companies can learn new tricks. If done right, clogs updated with regular new content give consumers a reason to keep coming back to corporate websites, boosting search engine visibility in the process. Clogging opens up another avenue to consumer dialogue, too, allowing the company to post new ideas, events, thoughts, etc., and letting the customer give direct feedback to the posts. Take GMC’s FastLane clog, where the car manufacturer keeps clients up-to-date on new technology, products, and its overall financial status.

The detriments to clogging can, in some cases, have the opposite effect of the pros – establishing and maintaining a clog can cost the company more than the perceived benefit. Though relatively easy and inexpensive to set up, the return on investment of clogging is difficult to gauge. Additionally, in most cases clogs do not receive a lot of web traffic and can open a company up to legal ramifications with objective content posted on a regular basis. Oftentimes clogging can be time consuming, yet the activity is largely ineffective without constantly updating postings with fresh content. Additionally, corporate blogging begs the question of what voice to use and then how and where to find the right writers to create the copy, or ghost-develop the text in the case of a company executive clog.

As if making the leap to clogging was not enough, corporations who choose to clog now have to decide what type of clog they want to use. Forms of clogs include a company blog (the most common type), a CEO blog, written or contributed to by company executives, an industry blog focused strictly on happenings in a company’s field, a department or product blog, and a customer service blog.

Obviously, given the potential benefits and pitfalls involved, there are many strategic decisions that have to be made before you commit to creating a clog. To get a good idea of some successful corporate blogs, check out the Official Google Blog, long considered the standard in clogging, Amazon.com’s Amazon Daily blog, and Whole Story, the official Whole Foods blog.

The Federal Trade Commission recently released a new guide to help parents talk to their kids about the internet. Released through the FTC program, OnGuard Online, the guide is titled Net Cetera: Chatting With Kids About Being Online.

Here is a description of the guide from the FTC:

“Kids and parents have many ways of socializing and communicating online, but they come with certain risks.  This guide encourages parents to reduce the risks by talking to kids about how they communicate – online and off – and helping kids engage in conduct they can be proud of.  Net Cetera covers what parents need to know, where to go for more information, and issues to raise with kids about living their lives online.

Netcetera was produced in conjunction with a variety of governmental and non-profit agencies, including one of our favorite organizations, the Internet Keep Safe Coalition. Reputation.com and iKeepSafe have worked together on multiple occasions to advance children’s safety issues online, and we will continue to do so in the future.

Finding solutions to safety and privacy problems on the web isn’t something that can or should be done alone. It is refreshing to see so many groups working toward the common goal of helping parents connect with and protect their kids online.

Starting a blog is a great way to show the world your unique identity. Even an “amateur” blog can let customers, friends, and coworkers know you are serious about establishing yourself online.

Of course, exposing one’s self to the praise and criticism of the entire world may not sound appealing. Is it really worth it to take the leap into blogging? Let’s weigh your options.

–

Pro – It’s Free!

From Blogger to WordPress to TypePad to Tumblr, there are dozens of sites out there that will let you start a free blog. Just sign up for an account and get started setting up the style and layout just how you’d like it. Many even offer design templates to help you get started.Forget Random House and HarperCollins – get published for free.

Con – Start at square one

Once you’re signed up, the empty space of your blog can be intimidating, especially compared to bloggers who have years of experience and tens of thousands of posts. You are faced with the task of filling up a digital journal with an unlimited number of pages and an unlimited number of readers. But you’ve got to start somewhere.

Pro – Unlimited possibilities

Blogging is a great way to share your professional knowledge, but your blog need not pertain to just your work life. Infusing your personality can be a great way to connect with your audience on a more human level. Do you love ’67 Mustangs? Start a blog like 67mustangblog.com. What about obscure timepieces? Check out watchismo.blogspot.com. Jack-of-all-trades? Curate posts that show off your wide-reaching interests in a one-of-a-kind space on the web.

Con – But would anyone read it?

You have to give the world a reason to read your blog – they won’t come flocking to you. Letting friends and family know is a great way to get started, but ultimately you need to build your audiencethrough dynamic, interesting content targeted at a niche subject. The Internet is a big place with a lot of competition.

Pro – Establish your Brand

Whether you’re a CEO or a student, you owe it to yourself to create and incubate an online identity for yourself or your company. 45% of employers will conduct an online search to screen potential employers – do you control what they will see?

Con –Watch what you blog

There may not be any official standards to what you can and can’t blog, but you have to live with everything you post, for better or for worse. Just ask novelist Alice Hoffman, whose rant against negative reviewers badly damaged her online reputation. Keep it mature.

Pro – Squash Rumors

Not everyone has crazed fans who start outrageous rumors. Everyday people can find themselves a victim of spamdexing, a phenomenon where your name is repeatedly used on unscrupulous websites simply to generate unique traffic. Your web identity gives people a detailed picture of who you are, so keep what is said about you under your control.

–

By our count, that’s four pros and three cons. In other words, while there are some risks to blogging, if you’re careful about how you use it, having your own blog is a great tool for protecting your reputation online.

Here at Reputation.com, we recommend being proactive about your online reputation. If you need more advice on how to get started with your own blog, along with other ways to help protect and manage your reputation, contact one of Reputation.com’s trained consultants today.

For additional information on ways to improve your online reputation through social media, check out these articles from the Reputation.com Blog:

Three Tips For Improving Your Online Reputation from The Wall Street Journal

The “Don’t Get Fired Because of the Internet” Survival Guide

Common Sense Social Networking Rules for Kids (these work for adults and their blogs, too)

About three weeks ago, we reported that Facebook had decided to comply with the recommendations of Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart and augment their privacy policy. At the time, we noted that Facebook was soliciting feedback from users, allowing the company to have some room for further change if the new policies weren’t popular. Because Facebook users didn’t have significant feedback, the change officially went into effect yesterday.

Michael Richter, Facebook’s deputy general counsel for intellectual property, product, and regulatory affairs, explained the decision at the Official Facebook Blog.

While a lot of people participated, the total number of people commenting did not reach the threshold of 7,000 that makes a vote necessary according to our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. Because of this — and the fact that many of the comments were positive — we’ve decided to adopt the revised policy. We’ll be posting it in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish soon.

In the coming weeks and months, we plan to build on the progress we’ve already made in making the document more accessible by also adding definitions of key terms, screen shots of important pages and informational “learn more” videos. We think these visual resources will make it even easier to understand how privacy works on Facebook.

The steps Facebook has taken to address criticism over its privacy policies have been admirable. Furthermore, including Facebook users in the process shows that the company isn’t taking its 300 million users for granted. While there are still problems with Facebook, including the site’s propensity for attracting phishing attacks, Facebook has set a high standard for other social media websites.