If you haven’t heard by now, former University of Hawaii slotback Davone Bess became the latest victim of online identity theft. According to an article written by the NFL Fanhouse site, Bess wants to press charges on the person who was impersonating him on Twitter.
The impostor, who used the name Lambo_Weezy on Twitter, did everything from exchanging tweets with fans to challenging Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson to a race, all while passing himself off as Bess.
And you know what, there’s probably thousands of impostors out there claiming to be someone their not ruining their reputation. But this just goes to show how important your online identity is.
This subject hits home for me because I work for a company that specializes in providing individuals with an online identity management platform and I’m also working on an online identity management ebook. In it I reference Scott Monty, the Head of Social Media for the Ford Motor Company, who said, “Your reputation is the one thing that defines you and only you. Everything you do, everything you say, everything you are is wrapped up in your reputation.”
Once your reputation is tarnished, you’re done. Just imagine if this impostor went unnoticed for a few more month and kept tweeting stuff that could potentially hurt Davone’s reputation.
It’s never too late (or too early) to start managing your online identity. The first step, which is the most critical step, is to own your own domain name and create a place (website) where people can go to find out more information about you. Your site should have links to all the places where you are on the web.
In Davone’s case, if he had a website that listed all the places where he is on the web, and say for instance Twitter wasn’t one of them, people would have known that that wasn’t really Davone Bess.
If you’re thinking this sounds like a lot of work, trying to create a website, don’t sweat. chi.mp offers people a free .mp domain name with an identity management platform that makes it easy for you to manage your online identity. And did I mention that it’s FREE!? Ideally you want your site to be “yourname”.mp. My site is davidonoue.mp.
Eminem said it best, “And there’s a million of us just like me who cuss like me; who just don’t give a *beep* like me who dress like me; walk, talk and act like me and just might be the next best thing but not quite me! ‘Cause I’m Slim Shady, yes I’m the real Shady. All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating. So won’t the real Slim Shady please stand up, please stand up, please stand up.”
Filed under: Social Media | Tagged: college athletics, davone bess, impostor, Social Media, Twitter
