NPR’s “On the Media” recently reran an interesting series of stories related to the Internet, including a piece called “Smirch Engine,” about online privacy or lack thereof, and how the anonymity of the Web can cause normally polite people to behave badly.

The story discussed how disparaging posts online can seemingly live forever, and be ruinous to individuals and companies.

It makes for interesting listening. Over the years, we’ve gotten requests from people asking us to take stories out of our sites’ archives because they are unflattering to their business and pop up high in search rankings.

My first question is always to inquire about the story: Is it factually correct? Every time this has happened, the answer has been yes. The person is just trying to clean up their reputation. And perhaps the story doesn’t reflect what is currently happening at the business. We’re sympathetic to that. But will be delete it from the permanent record? No.

At this point, I’ve always offered to do a follow-up piece on the company…is there come current news we could report? Perhaps a customer case history? We can’t change the past, but if there’s some up-to-date positive news to report, hey, who doesn’t like good news (especially these days)? Oddly enough, we don’t get much response.

And then there’s the issue of the permanent record many of us are creating each and every day. In the world of new media, marketers have a desire – and indeed a need – for transparency with their audience. But how do those same marketers translate this to their personal online lives? How open are you?

For example, I’m on Facebook. My friends there cover a wide range, from family members and school chums to online pals made via the blogosphere to coworkers and business colleagues.

Of late, I’ve gotten a few friend requests that I’ve ignored, because I don’t recognize the person’s name or face. Typically, these folks’ bios show me they have some connection to the marketing world. Perhaps they’re fans of Chief Marketer or my writing, and that’s swell.

But do they really want or need to be my “friend?” It’s nice that they took the time to search me and make contact. I appreciate that, I really do. But honestly, I’m pretty sure that those who die with the most Facebook friends don’t win, so I don’t need to hike up my friend count with people I don’t know.

(And if you don’t know me, do you really need to see pictures from my kid’s camp play or read my list of 50 concerts I’ve attended? No, you don’t.)

So I’m a bit guarded with my Facebook profile. Don’t be insulted if we have never had contact and I don’t accept your friend request…..it isn’t anything personal against you. It’s something personal for me. I’m admittedly freer with Linkedin, which by nature is a professional networking platform.

And if you really want a Chief Marketer notch on your Facebook belt, fan us, or our sister publications Direct and Multichannel Merchant. We’d love to see you there.

NPR’s “On the Media” recently reran an interesting series of stories related to the Internet, including a piece called “Smirch Engine,” about online privacy or lack thereof, and how the anonymity of the Web can cause normally polite people to behave badly.

The story discussed how disparaging posts online can seemingly live forever, and be ruinous to individuals and companies.

It makes for interesting listening. Over the years, we’ve gotten requests from people asking us to take stories out of our sites’ archives because they are unflattering to their business and pop up high in search rankings.

My first question is always to inquire about the story: Is it factually correct? Every time this has happened, the answer has been yes. The person is just trying to clean up their reputation. And perhaps the story doesn’t reflect what is currently happening at the business. We’re sympathetic to that. But will be delete it from the permanent record? No.

At this point, I’ve always offered to do a follow-up piece on the company…is there come current news we could report? Perhaps a customer case history? We can’t change the past, but if there’s some up-to-date positive news to report, hey, who doesn’t like good news (especially these days)? Oddly enough, we don’t get much response.

And then there’s the issue of the permanent record many of us are creating each and every day. In the world of new media, marketers have a desire – and indeed a need – for transparency with their audience. But how do those same marketers translate this to their personal online lives? How open are you?

For example, I’m on Facebook. My friends there cover a wide range, from family members and school chums to online pals made via the blogosphere to coworkers and business colleagues.

Of late, I’ve gotten a few friend requests that I’ve ignored, because I don’t recognize the person’s name or face. Typically, these folks’ bios show me they have some connection to the marketing world. Perhaps they’re fans of Chief Marketer or my writing, and that’s swell.

But do they really want or need to be my “friend?” It’s nice that they took the time to search me and make contact. I appreciate that, I really do. But honestly, I’m pretty sure that those who die with the most Facebook friends don’t win, so I don’t need to hike up my friend count with people I don’t know.

(And if you don’t know me, do you really need to see pictures from my kid’s camp play or read my list of 50 concerts I’ve attended? No, you don’t.)

So I’m a bit guarded with my Facebook profile. Don’t be insulted if we have never had contact and I don’t accept your friend request…..it isn’t anything personal against you. It’s something personal for me. I’m admittedly freer with Linkedin, which by nature is a professional networking platform.

And if you really want a Chief Marketer notch on your Facebook belt, fan us, or our sister publications Direct and Multichannel Merchant. We’d love to see you there.