Watch your P's and Q's!

In an article by Asher Moses  this week, it was revealed that Facebook has a dirty secret- they track your every movement on the web, even when you've logged out of the website. Which poses the question what do you have to hide about your online activity? What sort of digital footprint have you created and how could it effect your business?

Did you know that everything you have ever done on the web is preserved in archives that

are easy to access with tools like The Wayback Machine. Most people don't have cookie tracking software like Facebook does, however should your audience or customers Google you, they can find out all sorts of things; not only about you, but your business and gain an insight into who you are.

Have you been negative about a competitor? Sworn and vented  in a status update on a bad day?  Joined and been active on pages, groups and forums that may once have been totally appropriate, but now are completely opposed to the image and business you are trying to build? It's all there in archives and its what makes up your digital footprint for all too see.

When your trying to conduct or promote business online its important to remember that if your customers are savvy enough to find you online, they're savvy enough to Google you. The web isn't a private place, so make sure you have a distinct demarcation line in your own mind between the use of your personal persona and the use of your business persona.

What you can do

Have separate log-ins and usernames that are completely different for each persona. And for your private persona utilise as many privacy settings and options as you can, so that meaningless stuff doesn't end up offending people that were never meant to read it. Don't post negativity on your business pages, or your personal opinions, save that for your personal pages.

Facebook has now agreed to stop tracking their users. However their actions generated masses of negative publicity. They're a big enough 'business' to be able to survive, but if in a situation where bad press or word of mouth got out about you or your business, would you survive?

Think Nike using child labour, McDonalds using beef fat to fry their 'vegetarian' fries. Can you think of any others? How do you feel about what Facebook has done? How would you deal with it if it were you?