Online Reputation
Online reputation is often taken for granted since you can hide behind whatever identity you want. Many times you will see scammers messing up their reputation, of course they don’t really care about it thinking they can start scamming at other sites since the internet is so wide, for them changing identity is as easy as 1, 2, 3… But however smart they think they are, they won’t go very far since scammers always end up getting caught and unfortunately it is after the bad has been done.
Okay, let’s forget about scammers and move to the actual topic. According to me, online reputation is as important as conventional reputation, it takes time and trust to build. Being a member of various online communities myself I know what I am talking about. Your online reputation also reflects what you are in reality, your way of approaching people, talking to them, making friends and so on though you might find it easier online since you are not face to face to the person you are interacting with. Many people find it more comfortable to use “nicknames” online but it is most of the time one that fits their personality. Few years ago I was also using all kind of pseudonyms while chatting mostly but now I use my first name almost everywhere I need to create an account, forums, messengers, etc.
Again just like your real life reputation, once your online reputation is broken, it will not be easy to get back to the same status you were before, keep in mind that behind all the pseudonyms you see online there are real human beings, you will need to work really hard to win their trust again.
I have been thinking about my online reputation and decided to write about it in general terms, take the poll it’ll be interesting for me to know what others think about online reputation. And I just wanted to add, I know I don’t really have a super great reputation online (I’ve always been a ‘background’ type of person anyway) but I can always say I am the most popular “Rubeina” online (at least that’s what google says), sometimes it feels good to have a rare name. 
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Yes, it is but there’s the whole use of pseudonyms.
I, for one, have a very good rep. when using AncientNET or shahnet or fadilnet as pseudo. Call those my good perso/alter egos.
There are other pseudonyms used when I want to be nasty and to express my anger @ something - of course those pseudos are not linked to me.
True though - online life matters a lot for the number of friends online far exceed the one in real life.
Of course, Google in all its evilness loves to track down our data to make it simple for one to get a clear picture of our online persona (which is not good when it comes to our bosses checking us out.)
Oh well.
I voted yes it’s important!
cause it really is. Online communities form part of people’s lives now. It’s important to have a good reputation online like it’s important to have one in real life. (according to me) 
Your online reputation is as important as your public reputation… so most of the time it pays off to stay anonymous.
Just as Fadil pointed out, if one day your boss googles your name or if you are in a position of authority, your online reputation is too sensitive.
That’s why i’ve decided to be anonymous.
If you have good reason behind to become remain as pseudonyms, then it seem like to be okay. but if you have a plan to really make a reputations then you have to use your name..
btw am agree with carrot ehem carrotmadman
. Though big advantage to use your “name” is that “it brings REAL people and help to make a good reputation” specially girls have fair advantages.
Just as a flat Eg: Out of above three comments, i would like to click on morinn name ( url ) instead of that fadilnet or that carrot guy
bah but i hate those spammy user name who don’t forget to use numbers at the end of their name.
one worry about their online reputation as they spend more time on the net. also, it gets more important as said netizen “matures” in meatworld…when netizen is a teen, he/she will have multiple ids/avatars. this kinda reflects their search for self/identity. as the teen gets older and still spends time on the net, he/she will end up using and managing only one id/avatar…online reputation then become one of the main issues.
@ fadilnet, Ahaha I’ve used quite a lot of pseudonyms too in the past and some I am not very proud of (teasing people and all hihi
) but these days I use only my name online and I don’t think it’s a big problem about bosses and all. My boss knows I have a blog or moderator at a good webmaster forums, I think these can also help me in the future 
@ morinn, I cannot agree more on this, I wonder who voted no
@ carrotmadman6, I wanted to stay anonymous too online but I think you cannot always stay anonymous everywhere, how about social network sites? You also use pseudonyms there?
@ Picolo, hah it was you who told me not to be anonymous anymore
anyway I hope you’re going to come to light too soon.
@ waz, hmm right, when I was a teen I also kept changing my usernames, ah I regret not having used my name since that time.
I agree totally with you
even though sometimes i use pseudonyms in extreme case where i really want to stay anonymous 
Haha yus can I know some of those extreme cases?
it’s still best to remain anonymous or semi-anonymous when online…coz we never know who is lurking
Hmm it also depends to what level you are exposing yourself while using your real name. I don’t mind using my name as long as I am not fooling around.
How did i never come across this blog earlier?!
thats so nice, and really i find myself in these posts, despite being only a few…
Online reputation: that counts really a lot for me, since i have been online since 2002, and blogging since more than 2 years.
I made really lots of friends, but also ennemies lol…
do not hesitate to have a look at my blog : http://www.yashvin.net/
It’s because I started blogging only last month and I am not really advertising the blog anywhere yet. And I don’t really like getting attention lol am a background type of person
Ah, it’s nice to have people thinking same way as you
I’ve been online since early 2k too but well internet really sucks bad that time.. hint, dial up *sigh* and I was always using pseudonyms but probably as waz said when you start getting older you use only one username everywhere, in my case I choose to use my name.
Hehe already been to your blog, will be back again
I think using your own name is a good way of increasing your personal branding. I know several people that will go away after meeting someone and google them.
So if you’re name comes up in a lot of places with good feedback, it only enhances your credibility.
Anyway, when I started my current business I decided to brand my name along with it as most people were using pseudonyms in forums, etc. I’ve found it’s worked quite well so far.
Aha, that is so me, to go and google the name of the person I am interested to know more about. But unfortunately many people don’t like to use their full name online, those person that I meet in real life I will probably not find a thing about them online.
Right, I don’t know why many people don’t like using their name on their website but I sure see it as an advantage since many times I am interested to know more about the person than the website itself.
Online reputation is incredibly important. The good things that came my way in the past 2 years because of it have been incredible. Same like when you mess something up thinking you won’t get caught. People online unite to identify the person scamming and once that happened, all doors will start closing for him/her. You can hide only for so long.
Nice blog btw.
~ Mike
Hello Mike, nice to see you here
You’re right but many people don’t realize the importance of their online reputation yet. For many, being online just means chatting but I’ve seen most choose to stay anonymous online, I wonder why 