Google Alerts and Your Organization's Digital Reputation

Earlier this week I facilitated a workshop about social media for leaders of schools and organizations. Two of the questions that I posed to the group at the beginning of the day were; 1. What happens when someone Googles your organization? 2. What is being said about your organization without your knowledge?

After presenting those questions I gave folks time to try to find some answers to those questions. There were a few people surprised by what they found. My suggestion to everyone in the room was to create a set of Google Alerts for the names associated with their organizations. I encouraged people to create Google Alerts for not only the proper names of their organizations but also the nicknames and abbreviated names that people use for their organizations. Google Alerts makes it easy to find out when someone publishes something new about your organization online.

Another suggestion that I often make in workshops about social media is to look at popular social networks like Facebook and see if there are groups formed about your school or organization. And while Myspace is no longer popular with kids, the story that Clay Shirky shares in the video below (start at 2:15 into the video) is a good example of why you want to know what is happening in social media.