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The Dirty Work of Cleaning Online Reputations
Article

The Dirty Work of Cleaning Online Reputations

For a fee, companies will tackle damaging search results. But is the new economy of digital makeovers making things worse:

Paul Gallant
Medium, 2022
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Eye Opening
  • Well Structured

Recommendation

Websites and internet media don’t play by the same rules as traditional means of communication. Neither private individuals nor major firms are secure from online defamation, but the latter can more easily afford the cost of cleanup. As Paul Gallant writes in Medium, a multimillion-dollar industry has arisen to mitigate – but usually not eliminate – the problem of online slander and reputation damage. The fact that most internet searchers don’t read past the first dozen entries is one line of defense.

Take-Aways

  • The “reputation fixer” industry has grown dramatically in recent years.
  • Some unscrupulous parties create a problem, then offer to help solve it for a fee.
  • Legal remedies to virtual reputation damage are available but not necessarily effective.

About the Author

Journalist Paul Gallant wrote the novel Still More Stubborn Stars.

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