Join our own @MaryLeeS as she discusses how Social Media Privacy is really now Search Privacy bit.ly/IPSocMed2 ^MLS #privacy

— Intrapromote (@intrapromote) January 25, 2012

Part Three: Social Media Privacy has morphed into Search Privacy

This post is the third in a five part series addressing the management of one’s personal and professional social media profiles. (Did you miss Part 1 and/or Part 2?)

Most of us are quite familiar with Facebook and its ever changing Privacy Settings. We know that every time there is a Facebook update, we need to go in and deactivate whatever changes they made arbitrarily – we know the drill. But when is the last time you updated your Google Profile? Have you delved into your Google+ Privacy settings? What about your other Social Media profiles? Why does it matter?

Last week, Linda O’Neill discussed Intrapromote’s POV on Google Search Plus Your World with Erik Dafforn. In what Erik describes as “One of the most dramatic changes to search results in years”, Google has significantly increased the input of certain social signals for certain users. What does this have to do with Privacy?  Depending upon how you have your privacy settings set up on your social media accounts, your profiles will be showing up more prominently in Google Search Results than ever.

Take this quick search for Intrapromote’s illustrious President, Erik Dafforn, as an example:

You will notice the following:

• Erik’s Google+ profile shows up in instant search results
• Erik’s LinkedIn & Twitter accounts are listed prominently

With Google having the largest market share (66.6% in December 2011) by far, it is important to take a closer look at your Google Profile Privacy settings.

First of all, if you want Personal Results to show up in your Search results on Google, you do have to opt in. You may do this in your Search Settings as seen below.

Now that you have Personal Results turned on for Search, what is the easiest way to manage all of your different profiles? Fortunately, Google has Google Dashboard to manage all of your profiles associated with Google products. From your Google Dashboard you may currently manage settings for your Google Profile, Google Analytics, Android Devices, Android Market, Blogger, Buzz (yes it’s still listed!), Calendar, Chrome, Contacts, Docs, Friend Connect, Gmail, Google Music, Google+, iGoogle, Latitude, Picasa Web Albums, Reader, Google Talk, Google Chat, Google Voice, YouTube and any other Google product that you may have signed up for!

Check out this video about the Google Dashboard below:

Google Privacy also has a YouTube channel, which is a great resource for further information on the topic.

Although Google related profiles are very important, that is not all you need to look at. As we found with our search of Erik above, LinkedIn and Twitter profiles regularly rank high in search results.

Especially in regards to business, LinkedIn is a profile that most of us would WANT to show up in search results. LinkedIn has a newly re-designed settings page with privacy options prominently displayed as shown below:

When it comes to Twitter, it really depends upon what you are using Twitter for (personal vs. professional). Twitter does not have a lot of privacy features aside from protecting your tweets from public view. As a good rule of thumb, never Tweet anything that you would not want seen by the world (including employers and journalists). You never know when a national publication may pick up and quote your tweet on a subject and always assume potential employers are searching for your Twitter account to review.  In Part 1  of this series, there’s a good example of how this can backfire on you — especially if potential employers or customers are using tools like Rapportive.

And don’t leave out your new Social Media accounts as well! It is generally a good practice to search out privacy settings in each network when you first set up your account. You may have caught Intrapromote’s Katie Hehn and her recent blog post about Creating a Unique Brand on Pinterest. Interestingly, Pinterest has just one Privacy Setting and it is all about Search!

How you have your privacy settings set on your social media profiles is now more important than ever. After all, you will probably prefer that a potential employer find your polished LinkedIn profile over your Milli Vanilli Fan Pinboard….”Girl you know it’s true!”

Mary is one of Intrapromote’s social butterflies and you will often see her out and about at events around Cleveland. With an extensive background in marketing and sales in a variety of industries, including automotive and music/entertainment, Mary joined our Social Media department in 2009. A proud Boilermaker, Mary ensures that we keep our college rivalries brewing. Mary is known to walk into a Nordstrom Rack and leave them empty handed and she sleeps soundly knowing that her vast shoe collection will come in handy during the zombie apocalypse (stilettos are perfect for impaling). When she’s not battling for the mayorship of her local Starbucks on foursquare, you’ll most likely find Mary at a concert, cooking something delicious, watching football or finding the latest trends in Social Media. Mary’s thirst for the latest apps, sites and strategies keeps our inboxes full, our brains turning and our clients constantly impressed.

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