Nidal Malik Hasan - Using WhooRu to research The Fort Hood Shootings.

 

In an effort to be helpful for those news agencies researching this tragedy, I decided to use WhooRu to research the Fort Hood Shooter.  I found the following information about Nidal.

 

Helping a soldier with his conscientious objector status

Source

http://www.vitals.com/doctor/profile/1811199052

 

 

 Reviewer: Pvt J. Hammond

 Although he was hard to understand (strong accent) this doctor helped me come to terms with my conscientious objector status.While I am still not thrilled about being deployed to Iraq, I at least understand how doing so to protect my fellow soldiers is a good thing.

  

 

 Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress

 

This is where the press got the picture

 http://centerforthestudyoftraumaticstress.org/members/cstsmember-69_Hasan

 

 

Details about his medical license

 http://www.vahealthprovider.com/results_generalinfo.asp?License_No=0101238630

 

 

 

 

Where he practiced in D.C.

http://dc-washington.doctors.at/specialty/psychiatry/240

 

 

Managing how you appear on the internet will be the critical social skill of the 21st century.

What we are starting to see are the ramifications of a very public, private life. Celebrities have dealt with tabloids exposing the most intimate details of their private life for years. As such, celebrities have learned to avoid the spotlight and when they do have a problem, to involve someone who can do damage control. For the average John Q. Public, the consequences of exposing their private life on the internet is starting to sink in. As firings over social networking, blogs, and websites increase, people are responding by pulling back on use of the available technology.

There are several high profile cases where people have been fired for blogging but what we are seeing is the tip of a very large iceberg.  Most employment discrimination that occurs because of what is published on the internet,  goes unannounced.  It happens before any interview ever takes place. Any organization, company, or person which has a selective process for candidate evaluation (employment, college admission, dating, etc) is going to use the internet to assist in the decision making process. People are going to soon learn that their misdeeds of the past are going to cost them dearly when they attempt to reach their goals unless they change their approach to the internet. To date, most of the discussion about how to present yourself over the internet has been about prevention and recovery. Additionally, if something bad is out on the internet, people are attempting to remove the content. So in effect, people are attempting to become anonymous by removing themselves from the internet through prevention and recovery methods.

The focus on keeping yourself anonymous, as best as possible, is misguided. In a world where all of us can be researched on the internet, not having a presence can be worse than remaining anonymous. Over the course of time, the societal expectation will be that you can get a good feel for who someone is by viewing who they are online.  If you can’t view information about that individual, the assumption will be that you are a nobody, you have no professional connections,  or you have provided a false identity.   It will be difficult for you to succeed in an increasingly smaller world.
Even if you were to successfully hide, which I know is somewhat doubtful; it probably wouldn’t be the best course of action for you.  It’s quickly becoming a catch-22 for many people wishing to remain anonymous and wanting to be part of society.

However it doesn’t have to be.  The focus of how to use the internet from the individual perspective needs to shift to using the internet as a tool to help you separate yourself from the pack, in a good way. Controlling how you appear on the internet will help you reach the goals you desire. As time marches on, it will not be optional to control how you appear on the internet, it will be expected. Embracing the internet and effectively portraying yourself on the internet for the world to see will be the critical social skill of the 21st century.

There is a belief that people think they are anonymous on the internet. This is fueled by people thinking the internet is vast and huge, and they are a small player on the internet. Further, the belief is backed up by the thought that only the people they want to see their information have access or would seek out that information.

 

It’s like the person who picks their nose while driving in their car down the road.  Sure it’s a disgusting habit, but people do it in their car because they feel as if they have anonymity. They think no one is looking, never mind the fact, that all of their actions are on public display and people are looking.

Almost all news articles which cite stories of people being fired from stuff found on MySpace or Facebook contain the sentiment, “I didn’t think anyone reads my blog” or “Why would people care what I have to say” or “It was just a joke”.  The fact is, that many people , including your employer, care what you have to say.

Just ask David Noordewier. He was fired from Wal-mart for integrity issues for writing the following on his MySpace page, “Drop a bomb on all the Walmarts, trailer parks, ghettos, monster truck shows, and retarded fake “pro wrestling” events, and the average I.Q. score would probably double.”

Funny, maybe, maybe not.

It depends on whether or not you believe the stereotype that all people who shop at Wal-Mart, live in the ghettos and trailer parks or attend truck shows have low IQ. It was enough for his employer to feel like they could fire him for cause.  After all, why would Wal-Mart want to offend its’ customer base.

Where David, and most people like him went wrong was making the joke in the first place. Secondly, in today’s world David made a mistake by assuming that he had the anonymity or the deniability he needed to make statements like that. Had David made the comment to a coworker in passing, it likely would not been enough to fire him since it would be David’s word against his co-workers word. Unfortunately for him,  he recorded his thought on his MySpace page which was easily reproduced by Wal-Mart.

He failed to realize that when you associate yourself with a comment that can be reproduced it is difficult to argue against it. There should be no doubt in your mind that your employer, people you work with, and  people who know you are turning to the internet to find information about you and those around you. Sure they might not tell you they’ve been snooping in your business. Societal norms prevent people from telling you that they have been poking around in your personal lives, but rest assured you’ve been searched for more than once.   This prying leads us to a place where privacy and separation between all aspects of our lives no longer exist.

Yet, the internet provides information about you and those around you all of the time to people willing to look for it.   And the sad part is, the skill level required to find this information decreases daily.  Furthermore, there are more things available to find as more content is published about you. 

Better yet, the tools to find the information are being refined, and in most cases, improved. 

 

In the case Devon Bourgeois was an employee of Farmboy, Inc., a grocery store chain in Canada.  Devon, along with 186 of his “friends”  subscribed to a group on Facebook  dedicated as a gathering place for current and past of the grocery store employees. When one of his “friends”, brought the postings of Devon to the attention of management of Farmboy, Devon was promptly fired.  Never mind the fact that Devon had been given several raises and a promotion in the few years he had been with the company. 

What Devon wrote online isn’t important and neither is why the company fired him. What is important is Devon thought he had anonymity because you had to subscribe to these groups and that a person couldn’t find this information by using a search engine. Unfortunately, for Devon and anyone else on the internet when you interact with other people you do not have the ability to remain anonymous on the internet.

It would be one thing if you were the only person who would put information about you on the internet.  It that case, it might actually be possible to keep yourself anonymous on the internet.  However, you aren’t the only player when it comes to keeping information about you off of the internet.

People and organizations that are associated with you somehow can write all about you and post it on their website at anytime.  Depending on what is put out about you on the internet has the ability to hurt and harm you.

With every new post on a blog or on a post on a Facebook or MySpace page, information about you on the internet has the potential to grow. 

The days of avoiding the internet are rapidly decreasing.  You seemingly won’t be able to hide.

Call WhooRu today to see how we can help you fully. 1-877-2WhooRu or ( 877-294-6678 ).
Join the discussion in the WhooRu community for further discussion.
As always, be careful out there,

Aaron Francesconi
CEO and Founder of WhooRu

 

Walmart Worker Fired For Posting Joke On MySpace
http://consumerist.com/consumer/spying/walmart-worker-fired-for-posting-joke-on-myspace-264863.php

CANOE — CNEWS – Canada: Workers fired over Internet postings http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/01/17/3394584-sun.html

Although it is improbable to anticipate all of the possible things people could write about on the web, there are some general rules that you should use when creating any type of content; be it text, pictures, video, or sound.

Commandment # 1 - Always consider the impact to your online image.
This is the overriding rule when it comes to your online image. All too often, people will hastily put content out on the internet before they have had a chance to consider its impact. You should be asking yourself, does this support my online image or does it hurt my image. If the content you would be putting out on the internet makes you uneasy in any way, don’t put it out there. You should always look at new content you create as an opportunity to enhance or build your online image. You should never put out content that hurts or doesn’t help you.

Commandment #2 -  Respect the line between your public and private information.
Spend a bit of time identifying the line between your public and personal life. Remind yourself before you create content, if this is something that you would be comfortable putting on a post card and mailing across the country. If you are comfortable with the content, then feel free to post away. However, if you are not comfortable with it, refine it to the point that you eliminate the elements which make you uncomfortable.  Keep your private life far away from the internet.  Don’t let what you do in your private life prevent you from achieving your dreams.

Commandment #3  - Respect the privacy of others
Here is your chance to use the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
From a personal perspective, guard the privacy of those around you when it comes to writing about someone.  Always ask permission to use someone’s or  a companies’ likeness in your online image. Like people, companies have a lot to lose when it comes to their online image. Companies invest millions of dollars in maintaining an image of their brand name. If you slander a company, you should expect effort made on their behalf to correct their image. When it comes to your current or previous employer(s), don’t reveal trade secrets or corporate secrets. Nothing can get you in hot water more than revealing trade secrets, but revealing corporate secrets comes close.  Trade secrets are what companies use to create advantages for themselves. Corporate secrets include but are not limited to hiring and firing practices, policies, salary administration, benefit packages, and disciplinary actions.

Commandment #4 -  Be positive, don’t go negative
While all of us go through phases in our lives where we want to complain about everything, the internet is hardly the place for ranting. Even though some people may enjoy your complaints, find another outlets than the internet. When we are feeling anger we can lose control when it comes to maintaining an online image. Negativity is a cancer which no one wants to introduce into any environment. Your spouse, employers you work for, your children ultimately do not like to see you complain. You name the person or situation, and I would bet that 99 times out of a 100, people would much rather see you positive and upbeat about life rather than being negative about life. The ability to respond positively to situations which would otherwise discourage a normal person is one of those universal characteristics of a quality individual. By being positive, you can avoid the pitfalls of being negative about a person, place or thing. Few things can hurt your career and online image more than singling out people for a public flogging. Although people might find your ranting entertaining, there is always a little voice in their back of their mind that tells them, “I’m next”. Your future employer may love that spot in Montana. You know the one you griped about with all the mosquitoes? You know… the WORST PLACE ON THE PLANET!! Or maybe that piece of crap golf club was the one your boss won the last Country Club golf tournament with. You just never know. So keep it positive and don’t lose prospective just because you needed to vent.

Commandment #5  - Less is more.
The concept here is embodied by the colloquialism, if you give someone enough rope, they’ll hang themselves. Likewise, if you take the opportunity to write content about everything under the sun, you may end up writing about something that will hurt your online image. Overwhelming a website visitor with everything you can possibly think of to tell them about a topic may overdo it in the visitors mind.
Furthermore, by keeping a handle on the amount of content you have on your website, you can improve your message to make it clear and concise.

Commandment #6 - Avoid humor.
Avoiding humor is one way to keep yourself from offending entire groups of people. Do not post any humor which could be considered bigoted, lewd, rude, crude, vulgar, sexist, and/ or racist. Those will be immediate warning signs to anyone evaluating you. Although in our day to day lives, humor is often welcome by most. Humor can be a double edged sword. Humor depends on the audience, culture, and context in order to understood. On the internet you do not know who your audience member is that is viewing your online image. With the danger  of  humor miscommunication being high, it best to leave it off an online image altogether. The one exception would be that if your goal is to become a comedian, then humor is your business and belongs all over your online image.

Commandment #7  -  Be a person, not a product
You are a person and your online image should reflect that.  An online image that treats you more like a product by using exaggerated claims or difficult or unintelligible language can give the visitor to your online image the wrong impression of you. All of us are fairly accustomed to being able to tell when we are hearing a sales pitch. Using language that presents you in realistic light rather than the use of language which hypes you, will actually help the visitor to your online image. Use real language, and avoid exaggerated claims. When writing language, its’ ok to be passionate about your topic, after all you are a human and not a machine.

Commandment #8  - Identify yourself so there leaves no doubt who they are dealing with.
This is the part where you don’t want to play games.  You need people to know who they are dealing with.
Often your full name along with your city and state that you live in will be enough to identify who you are. However, if you have a common name with a namesake in the same vicinity, you are going to need to further identify yourself. You will need to identify what is different between you and your local namesake and make certain that those aspects are trumped up. If you have difficulty finding differences and their online image would hurt you if it were confused as you, employing promotion efforts may help you take over the top 10 results.

Commandment #9  - Don’t show bigotry
Hatred, Bigotry, racism, intolerance, and sexism, are some of the ugliest concepts in our modern culture.
This is why so much effort in the past century has laid the framework to root these evils out of our society. And while they are the basis for political correctness, they have no place amongst a 21st century society. If you like being able to be part of the world of the 21st century, showing this characteristic will ruin any chance you have for employment with a company which cares about its’ workforce. You will become a liability and companies tend to avoid those if they can. Unless, of course, it becomes in vogue to be bigoted against other people, I suggest you stay away from such topics and innuendo all together.

Commandment #10 -  Don’t post anything about illegal behavior
While this may go without saying, there are enough examples of people out on the internet who have lost their jobs, their marriages, and freedom as a result of posting illegal activity. Illegal behavior can mean underage drinking and smoking, vandalism, theft like download pirated music, movies, and/or software along any other sort of crime. Don’t incriminate yourself by posting this garbage on the internet.  If you participate in illegal behavior, stop.  And if for some reason you can’t, don’t make it public knowledge. If your foolish enough to do it, then you will reap what you sow

Commandment #11  -  Avoid the appearance of evil.
On the internet, you need to be clear about who you are. If you have paraphernalia of activities that could be misinterpreted by people as behavior which would give your online image negative characteristics, you should not post it. Paraphernalia comes in many forms.  For example, if you are a married man and you blog about how much you like a particular dating site, you will  make you online image look like an adulterer.
Another example could be a teenager writing about her favorite file sharing software. Although there are legitimate reasons (not many) for file sharing networks, most people equate file sharing to stealing pirated music. Keep the paraphernalia of activities that could hurt your online image away from the internet.

Commandment #12  - Don’t write when you are angry or otherwise impaired
When passions run high, common sense can go out the window. For online image management, you need to be thinking about how this makes you look and not how badly you could make someone else look.
In moments of anger, you may be likely to dump whatever you are feeling at the time on to the internet. If you are impaired, you will not be able to write to your full potential which is what you need when you are writing content for your online image. If you do need to vent about something, keep it in your private life, far away from the internet.

 

Call WhooRu today to see how we can help you fully. 1-877-2WhooRu or ( 877-294-6678 ).
Join the discussion in the WhooRu community for further discussion.
As always, be careful out there,

Aaron Francesconi
CEO and Founder of WhooRu

The focus of the web in the early part of the 21st century will be to make the experience richer through user involvement. All of this focus on user involvement has created mounds of digital trash. Specifically speaking: blogs, comments, facebook profiles, etc. that are accumulating exponentially.

Why is this a problem

Ever hear of a little concept known as your past coming back to haunt you? Although ten years ago you might have pushed your radical world changing agenda, now your world changing agenda could be coming back to haunt you.
Why is this happening

By providing tools that allow people to contribute, companies have driven people to publish on their photo sharing, video, and blogging websites. Publishing to these media types, especially video, would have been almost next to impossible for an average user, now can be accomplished with the click of a button. Through innovation and the advent of new classes of product, the ability to publish video and photos have never been easier. Companies have realized that user involvement adds value to their internet endeavors. The more people that use the user interactivity features, the higher the value add for the company. In return, the company creates loyal customers by valuing the opinion of their customers. Furthermore, it helps companies to sell more products by offering users a place to comment. Users typically have greater satisfaction because they were able to get product testimonials through average people who have no agenda other than providing feedback.

To facilitate the tools necessary for user involvement, enter Web 2.0.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “There was a web 1.0?”. Well yes there was and still is a web 1.0. It’s the internet as you know it and love it. For the most part, Web 2.0 merely refers to the evolution in the market of how we (the users) will use internet connected technology to interact.
The same websites that existed in web 1.0 still exist today as they do in this web 2.0 world.
They still offer you ways to shop and manage accounts. However, the approach to how companies and individuals interact with each other on the web is evolving.
Web 2.0 tools will propel the internet down the path of becoming the social gathering place of the 21st century. These focus of web 2.0 technologies are to increase user involvement through collaboration with tools such as message boards, social networking, and blogs.
The industry has signaled that it intends to provide the tools necessary to support the Web 2.0 demands of the internet community as a whole. From a social standpoint, the Web 2.0 will experience pushback and reboot itself when most people realize that they need manage the mess they have made for themselves in the web 2.0 world.

All of the “collaborating” on the 2.0 world is going to leave your online image dirty.
The years of accumulate digital trash is going to be difficult to recover from if you fail to take steps before Web 2.0 takes full effect.
What you can do:
Think before you act and use WhooRu to help clean up past indiscretions. I will soon be posting an article on the top 10 rules for posting internet content.  Call 1-877-2WHOORU today (1-877-294-6678)

As Always, be careful out there.

Aaron Francesconi
CEO and Founder of WhooRu

Humanity is in the beginning stages of an information revolution which is dramatically changing the way people learn about each other. If a person needs to know something about someone, they no longer turn to a private investigator, they turn to Google. This socially accepted behavior has introduced a problem that is unique in the whole of human history.
The internet has allowed the average person to find out about people as though they were next door neighbors, from thousands of miles away behind the warm glow of a computer monitor. In turn, they are judging people based on very limited information assembled from the internet, regardless of the truthfulness of that information.

The forces that are causing this perfect storm on the internet are as follows:

• People haphazardly socializing on the internet.
• Companies making tools for people to be able to socialize online .
• Companies soliciting people to post comments on their sites.
• People who are in postions to make decisions about people whom they have never met are willing to use information from the internet to reduce risk.

Consider the following.

• The availability of tools such as blogging software and social networking sites. According to Technorati, a blog indexing company, there are over 14.7 million active bogs and over 70 million blogs in all. As of June 2008, MySpace has over 117 million users and Facebook has over 132 million users. Social networking sites worldwide have over 580 million users and growing at a mind-numbing annual 25% pace. That’s roughly 145 million users per year, or 397,000 per day.

 

• The growing acceptance of using the internet for socialization by all age demographics. Over 80% of MySpace users are over 18, and the fastest growing demographic of users is the 30-plus demographic.

 

• The desire for companies to add value to their web presence through web 2.0 technologies.
  Web 2.0 based technologies solicit user involvement in the form of discussion boards, product reviews, and free content hosting. Forrester Research Inc. estimates that corporate spending on Web 2.0 enabling technologies will reach $4.6 billion globally by 2013, growing at a rate of 43%. Additionally, 56% of European and North American companies consider Web 2.0 technologies a top priority for this year alone. All of these Web 2.0 technologies provide an avenue for a person to damage their online image.

 

• Companies are beginning to require employees to manage the employees’ image on the internet.
  One in ten employees are now required by their employer to market themselves on the internet. One in five employees state that their employers have policies regarding how employees present themselves online.

 

• Society is willing to use information about you on the internet to make decisions about you.
  In a 2006 study by ExecuNet, 77% of executive recruiters use the internet to research job candidates. Thirty-five percent of candidates were eliminated based on the search results. Similarly, one in five employers are using social network sites in the hiring process. Of those candidates who were screened, 34% of the managers found information which helped them remove applicants from consideration. On the flip side, 24% of managers found content which helped support the hiring decision.

But not to worry,  there is hope.  WhooRu can help you present yourself the way you need to so you can take advantage of the opportunity the internet is providing right now.  Think about it, you have the ability to get  a leg up on the competition.  If people are willing to look for you online, why not help them find you the way you want them to find you.

WhooRu can help you with complete online image management,  Call WhooRu today 1-877-2WHOORU (1-877-294-6678).

As always, be careful out there,

Aaron Francesconi
CEO and Founder of WhooRu

Blog Usage Statistics And Trends: Technorati State Of The Blogosphere - Q4 2006 http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2007/04/06/blog_usage_statistics_and_trends.htm

Social Networking Explodes Worldwide as Sites Increase their Focus on Cultural Relevance
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2396

Is MySpace an Advertiser Space?
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3622942

Forrester: Global Enterprise Web 2.0 Market To Reach $4.6 Billion By 2013
http://www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,1207,00.html

Online identity management and search in the age of transparency
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Digital_Footprints.pdf

Growing Number Of Job Searches Disrupted By Digital Dirt http://www.execunet.com/m_releases_content.cfm?id=3349

One-in-Five Employers Use Social Networking Sites to Research Job Candidates, CareerBuilder.com Survey finds
http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx

A great domain name is one of the best ways to ensure people will find your website and be able to quickly identify that site as yours.

1. Must contain your name you use on your resume/applications
   Search engines as well as people give your name in the domain name high credibility when searching for you by name.  It is the way to get your domain name higher in the search rankings.
2. Less is more.
   The shorter a domain name the better. Using a short domain name is preferred because its easier to remember and it lessens the likelihood of misspellings.
3. Domain Names run words together.
   By convention, it is widespread practice to run words/names together in a domain name. This works OK most of the time. Sometimes you can get other words that are created by accident.
4. Domain Names can only use certain characters.
   You are limited to letters a through z (case-insensitive), digits 0 through 9, and  hyphens.
5. Connecting the domain name to you.
   Someone who hardly knows you should be able to draw a strong connection between you and your website based on URL alone.
6. Readability is Key. 
   The URL should be readable by the average person. Sometimes names when put together don’t flow the way the owner originally intended. Case in point, take someone named Wilma Armana.  If she registered her first and last name as a domain name, the domain name would look like wilmaarmana.com.  Capitalizing letters of the name would help if you control how someone reads your domain name (WilmaArmana.com.), however hyphenating the name would be the better choice.  ( Wilma-Armana.com)
7. The domain name should avoid unintended misreading.
   For example, my favorite domain name to illustrate this point has always been experts-exchange.com.  Notice the unintended misreading if you drop the hyphen.

At WhooRu, we can help you pick a great domain name for you along with building your online image. Call 1-877-2WHOORU today (1-877-294-6678)

As Always, be careful out there.

Aaron Francesconi
CEO and Founder of WhooRu

So whats’ a stereotype have to do with your online image? Absolutely everything.

Stereotypes are the mechanism by which we make decisions about people on the internet. We do this because the internet really is limited in what information it can provide about a person.

We, as people, need stereotypes when we are in situations where we have limited information. The internet is a perfect example of having limited information. For most people, the information people are able to find using your name provides very limited insight into who you are. However, using a stereotype, a person is able to make sense of what they found by applying a stereotype based on what they found.

Your online image is crafted in the mind of the beholder. As in real life, we all make snap judgments because of the necessity to make decisions based on very limited information. The process of making these decisions is often automatic and depends greatly on what experiences we have had in our lives, the culture we live in, and the stereotype biases we have.

Negative vs. Positive Stereotypes

Stereotypes take quite a bit of flak, because of negative cultural use of stereotyping. The whole discipline of political correctness exists to counter negative stereotyping. The problem with stereotyping is when we apply negative stereotypes to people.

Negative stereotypes that characterize people based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, political stance, are generally too limiting to make correct judgment and always unfair to the person. If you have ever been on the receiving end of a negative stereotype you know exactly how unfair those stereotypes are.

Positive stereotypes are often not as noticible as a negative stereotype, but they exist. Positive stereotypes are stereotypes your culture has placed value in. For example, the stereotype of “Scientist” confers several attributes such as intelligent, methodical, groundbreaking, etc.

Understanding the stereotypes that shape and form your online image will be vital to effectively controlling your online image. Knowing the stereotype that you want to portray will be how you effectively manage what people think about you.

WhooRu Image Specailists help you determine what your sterotype should be.  We take it a step further to help you effectively communicate the positive characteristics of that stereotype.  Call WhooRu today 1-877-2WHOORU (1-877-294-6678) to get started today.

As always, be careful out there,

Aaron Francesconi
CEO and Founder of WhooRu

Managing your online identity when unemployment is rising is critical. Did you know that according to a 2006 survey by ExecuNet, 77% of executive recruiters use the internet to research job candidates. Thirty-five percent of candidates were eliminated based on the search results. Similarly, one in five employers are using social network sites in the hiring process. Of those candidates who were screened, 34% of the managers found information which helped them remove applicants from consideration. On the flip side, 24% of managers found content which helped support the hiring decision.
One in ten employees are now required by their employer to market themselves on the internet. One in five employees state that their employers have policies regarding how employees present themselves online.
Furthermore, several companies now fire people based on what they find on the internet.  Almost all news articles which cite stories of people being fired from stuff found on MySpace or Facebook contain the sentiment, “I didn’t think anyone reads my blog” or “Why would people care what I have to say” or “It was just a joke”.
The fact is, that many people , including your employer, care what you have to say. Just ask David Noordewier. He was fired from Wal-mart for integrity issues for writing the following on his MySpace page, “Drop a bomb on all the Walmarts, trailer parks, ghettos, monster truck shows, and retarded fake “pro wrestling” events, and the average I.Q. score would probably double.” Funny, maybe, maybe not.

It depends on whether or not you believe the stereotype that all people who shop at Wal-Mart, live in the ghettos and trailer parks or attend truck shows have low IQ. It was enough for his employer to feel like they could fire him for cause.
After all, why would Wal-Mart want to offend its’ customer base. Where David, and most people like him went wrong was making the joke in the first place.

Now you might be asking yourself, “what happened to separation of work life and private life.” It’s gone. The fact of the matter is that in good times if you can be tied to the company and look like you could negatively impact the profits of the company, you are easy to get rid of. What’s worse, is that in tough economic times like we have today, employers need nothing more than a shoddy reason (if that) to justify cutting you in the latest reduction in force.
Your best strategy is to protect yourself from internet discrimination. WhooRu can help. WhooRu can track down all the information that is placed out on the internet and help you put your best foot forward.

Call WhooRu today to see how we can help you fully. 1-877-2WhooRu or ( 877-294-6678 ).
Join the discussion in the WhooRu community for further discussion on how to protect yourself from internet discrimination.
As always, be careful out there,

Aaron Francesconi
CEO and Founder of WhooRu

Growing Number Of Job Searches Disrupted By Digital Dirt
http://www.execunet.com/m_releases_content.cfm?id=3349

One-in-Five Employers Use Social Networking Sites to Research Job Candidates, CareerBuilder.com Survey finds
http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx

Well, maybe not all of your wildest dreams, but hopefully some of them. If you asking yourself, why the need for yet another blog? With so many blogs on the internet it seems as if there is a never ending supply. Well for starters, this ain’t no ordinary blog, brain dumping at random about whatever happens to be on my mind. This blog has a purpose and is dedicated to the advancement of Online Image Management (OIM) and everything that pertains to it.

The goals of this blog will be to help educate you on the necessity to manage your online image. The information contained within this blog will be aimed at helping you take control of who you are online. Of course, WhooRu would like to be your partner in the online image management process and wherever possible, I will highlight how WhooRu helps with those aspects of Online Image Management.

Navigating the upcoming social storm created by people on the Internet is going to be tricky. Take heart, controlling how you appear on the Internet is possible when you are armed with knowledge and a partner like WhooRu.

I look forward to helping you with all aspects of managing your online image.

As always, be careful out there,

Aaron Francesconi
CEO and Founder of WhooRu