Do you remember when in high school, being popular was "the thing"? Your reputation during those years could either make you or break you. Everything seemed so final in determining who you were for the rest of your life; fortunately, that's not the case and high school is only 4 years (or 4 DREADFUL years for some of us).

Being popular as a teenager was important, wether you want to admit it or not; the athletic good looking guys would always end up with the hottest girls, they were respected/tamed and considered "cool". Cheerleaders were the most good looking girls and every girl wanted to be like them. I know I had my fair share of wanting to be popular. I was never popular for sports achievements or for yelling and screaming with pom poms; I received awards for my academic performance, but that wasn't considered cool. Having a 4.0 GPA meant that I was a geek or a loser who spent time studying instead of living like the rest of society, as if I was a hermit. Truth is, I had lots of friends, but most of them were from outside of school, like childhood friends or from a previous school I attended. Often my reputation was the one of "the new girl" since I moved a lot during my high school years; I always struggled with making new friends as the label I was given always made me feel like an "outcast". Still to this day, it takes effort for me to break out of my shell at first, but once I get to know you, I am an open-book. My experience goes to show that the "new girl" label did not dictate who I am; it certainly influenced my behavior in certain situations, but guess what? I am not going to be the new girl forever.

Putting my personal story aside, the goal of my post today is to relate the idea of reputation not only to people but to companies and their brands (and yes, some companies still don't get how important your social media persona is for business). If it once took days for a story to leak and make or break your reputation, it now takes seconds to change the public's perception of a person or brand. Thank you Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all of your social media friends!

Not all though is negative when it comes to social media and brands. Starting on the good side of things, the Internet has allowed many businesses to either develop or build upon their image and connect with customers. It is easier to comment on a company's Facebook page about an issue than going through the contact us customer service process. There are customer representatives that respond to consumers in real time and try and resolve issues as well as encouraging people who leave compliments. How amazing is this? Instead of waiting 5 to 7 business days to know what happens to my request, I can just go online and write on a company's news feed sharing my story and I will get a response within minutes. Thanks to the digital age, people feel more connected to brands and companies. Apple is not just a company, it's way of life, Google is not a search engine, it's your doctor, your vocabulary, and many more things, it's your guide to life. When you don't know something just Google It, DUH!

The downside of how quick news gets around in the digital age comes into play when there are bad news, poor customer service stories, and when a company makes a mistake. People can feel that a brand is a friend, but if they sense betrayal, they will leave you and it will be extremely difficult to gain their trust again.

In my previous posts I always mentioned how important it is to be present, relevant, to have something to say, valuable content and all of these factors tie in with reputation. What do you want to be remembered for?

and yes...I took this quote from the movie "Fame" (quick fact: I have a thing for the 80's)