Defamation is often referred to as “defamation of character”, is spoken or written words that fallaciously and harmfully reflect on a living individual’s reputation. Slander and libel are 2 examples of defamation. Slander is a spoken defamation, while libel is a written defamation.

Can a law suite be filed against someone who defames me?

In order to prove defamation, you have to be able to prove that what was said or written about you was fake. If the information is true, or if you gave permission to the publication of the material, there is no case. However, you may bring a defamatory action if the comments are so horrible and false that they effect your reputation.

What about insults, do they fall under the terms of being defamatory?

Usually, in litigation, they are seen as a sudden occurrence of passion, with no real essence.

Okay, so do I have a right to convey my opinion as well?

As long as your statement of opinion is just an opinion, and does not contain unambiguous facts that can be proven as fallacious, then yes.

What are the cases for defense to defamation?

Ascertaining the truth is the single most effective defense that can be offered. If the statement is truthful there is little you can do. Unfortunately, unless the remark is false, you have no recourse.

What are the defenses to a libel claim?

There are three core defenses to a libel claim.

The first is claiming, and proving, that the statement was privileged (not public). Only certain professions (doctors, attorney, psychologists), or individuals (predominantly your spouse) can preserve that concession; and if any non-privileged third party was part of the communication, the privilege no longer exists.

The second defense is proving that the statement is true.

The third defense is proving that the statement was an opinion, not a declaration of fact. Since this last defense is only as good as the weakest or worst, but still reasonable, misinterpretation, it’s not one you really want to rely on. There’s a world of difference between saying “I think she’s a scam,” and “she’s a scam”.

What damages can I receive for slander or libel?

If you have been defamed you may seek both actual damages, to recuperate the harm that you have suffered, and punitive damages to penalize the person who made the remark.

If the defamation improperly accused you of a crime or reflected on your profession, the Court or jury can assess the damages. For other types of defamation you must prove some actual damage to be able to recover.

The most reputation repair needy for 2010 so far is Toyota - Tiger Woods - iPhone & BP. Each of these companies ended up helping the other without even knowing it or at least planning it.

All you heard in the news was Toyota and Tiger Woods a few short weeks ago, now they seem to be over shadowed with negative press about the BP Oil Spill & The iPhone 4 Antenna Issue.  So can one bad reputation crisis help another? I think so.

When the media turns their pack of wolves on to a new story they seem to let the other trending stories fizzle out. It is bad to wish a crisis on anyone or any company, but what if you could hide your crisis or reputation issue in the media with another unrelated issue? Was the oil spill good for Tiger Woods online reputation? I would hate to say that anything is good about the BP oil Spill that is hurting our beautiful oceans and sea life, but Tiger’s camp most likely see the new bad news, good news for them and Tigers reputation. The BP Spill has taken the spotlight off of other stories like Tiger Woods and Toyota. The iPhone 4 bad buzz going around is pitching in on the reputation diversion also.

What will happen next that will make the current stories “old news”? Will people forget about what they read last month? How long can negative press really affect a brand name or individual?

Facebook has over 250 million unique visitors each month. In Reputation Armor’s opinion facebook is the second best ranking social media site when used properly for reputation management.

Myspace has over 122 million unique visitors each month. Although it ranks well,  and we have used it in the past, Reputation Armor has taken the stance that because of spam issues and the fact that myspace is more geared towards tweens, that it is not an ideal reputation management tool for our clients.

Twitter receives over 80 and a half million visitors per month, and is Reputation Armor’s favorite Social media and networking site. It has become one of the most valuable site of its type for online reputation management.

Linkedin, another of Reputation Armor’s favorites, receives over 50 million unique visitors a month.

Ning, with over 42 million visitors, is a underrated and underused reputation management tool.

Founded in 2004, Tagged has 30 million visitors per month.

With over 29 million visitors a month, Reputation Armor notes that classmates is not to be ignored.

Hi5, which touts itself as a way to Express yourself with custom profiles, avatars, music, and more has over 27,000,000 visitors a month.

Online reputation management involves many facets. Social Media and Social Networks are a very important ingredient to a successful reputation management campaign. Below is a list of social media sites that can help you build your online reputation.

The social media and network sites are categorized to help you find the ones that match up with your specific needs.

ARTS:

ArtSlant
deviantART
Humble Voice - Art, music, video, photography
imeem - Music, videos, photos
MyArtInfo
PhotographyVoter
Virb - Music, art, fashion, film and more

BOOKMARKING:

AllMyFavorites
Backflip
Blinkbits
Blinklist
Blogmarks
Blummy
BuddyMarks
BookmarkTracker
ChangeToLink
Chipmark
del.icio.us
De.lirio.us
Diigo
Dogear
Favoritoo
Feedmarker
Foxmarks
FreeLink
Furl
GiveALink
Hyperlinkomatic
iKeepBookmarks
Jack of All Links
Lilisto
LinkaGoGo
Linkatopia
Linkroll
List Mixer
Lycos iQ
Ma.gnolia (not functional for now)
Mister Wong
Mobilicio.us
MyBookmarks
MyHq
Mylinkvault
MyPip
My Stuff (from Ask)
MyVmarks
Namakkal
Netvouz
Online Bookmark Manager
OnlyWire
Oyax
Shadows
Simpy
SiteBar
SiteJot
Snipit
Socializer
StartAid
Stufflinker
Sync2it
SyncOne
Turboclip
Windows Live Favorites
WireFan
Zurpy

CARS AND AUTO:

AutoSpies
Boompa
Car Community
CarDomain
Motorpulse

CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS:

Classmates
ConnectU
Friends Reunited
Graduates
Meetup
MyYearbook
Reunion
SKOUT

CONSUMER REVIEWS:

Cork’d - Wine reviews
Chowhound - Food
Epinions
RateItAll
Yelp

COOKING/FOOD

All Recipes Barmano
Bake Space
Epicurious Community
Family Oven
FohBoh - Restaurant network
Kitchen Bug
MyDish
Nibbledish
Recipe Key
Recipezaar
Sharecipe
Tasty Planner
We Eatt
WineLifeToday - Wine

CULTURES/FOREIGN LANGUAGES:

Acelerame - Spanish (cars)
Amina - Chechen Republic
Black Planet - African American
ClubGh - Ghana
Hyves - Dutch
IRC Galleria - Finland
iWiW - Hungary
IndianPad
LunarStorm - Sweden
MiGente - Latino
Mixi - Japan
Nexopia - Canada
Playahead - Sweden
Scoopeo - French
StudiVZ - German students
Wamba - Spanish social network
Yigg - German

DATING:

Bachelor Place
Chemistry
Crush or Flush
Cupid’s Lab
Flirtomatic
LoveandFriends
OkCupid
SpeedDate
WooMe

EDUCATION/BOOKS:

BookCrossing
Bookins
BookMooch
BookSwim
Carmun
Citeulike
Connect via Books
Curriki - for teachers
Good Reads
LibraryThing
PaperBackSwap
qoolsqool
Read It Swap It
Shelfari
We The Teachers

EVENT PLANNING

Socializr
Zoji

FAMILY:

Amiglia
Babbiz
CafeMom
Eons
Family 2.0
Family Den
Famiva
Geni
Genoom
GreatSchools - Parents review schools
Kinzin
MomJunction
MothersClick
Moxie Moms
MyFamily.com
Parentography
TheFamilyPost
WebBiographies

FASHION/CLOTHING:

2Threads
Chictini
Fashionising
Fashion Network
Metro Friendly
Movmnt
My Kids Fashion
Springleap - T-shirts
StyleCaster Community
Stylehive
StyleHop
StyleMob
Threadless - T-shirts
Us Trendy

FINANCE:

Tip’d

GAMES:

Gaia - Games and anime
Game Diggity
GuildCafe
WeeWorld

GENERAL NETWORKING:

AIM Pages
Badoo
Bebo
CyWorld
EarthFrisk
ECpod
Facebook
Faves
Friendster
Grono
Hi5
iBritz
LiveJournal
Lovento
Multiply
MySpace
MyWebProfile
NetFriendships
Netlog
Orkut
Passado
Plaxo
Skyrock
Tagged
Tribe
Trig
Windows Live Spaces
Yahoo! 360
Zaadz

HEALTH/MEDICAL:

DailyStrength
DrConnected
Health Ranker
icarecafe
MyPharmaNote
Sanewire - recovery
Sermo - Doctors
Walker Tracker
Who is Sick?

KIDS:

imbee
KidLinks

INTERNET MARKETING:

Gooruze
PlugIM
Sphinn

LINK/WEBSITE SHARING:

Ensiting
Faves
StumbleUpon
TagTooga
Trailfire

MICROBLOGGING/IM/MOBILE:

BeeMood
Feecle - Japanese
FlickIM
Frazr - German and French
IMified
Jaiku
Komoo - Chinese
loopt
mbuzzy
Numpa - Dutch
Pownce
Radar
Robisz - Polish
Rummble
Twitter
Zannel

MOVIES:

Filmcrave
Reelempire

MUSIC:

10Tune
Buzznet
Fuzz
JamNow
Jango
Last.fm
MOG
Purevolume
Soundpedia
thesixtyone

NEWS:

Blog Engage
Blogg-Buzz
BloggingZoom
BlogsVine
BookmarkUs.net
BuzzFlash
Content Pop
Digg
Fark
Hubdub
Mad or Love
Mixx
NewsCloud
NewsHeat - Politics
Newsvine
NowPublic
Plime
Propeller
RawSugar
Reddit
Shoutwire
Stirr’d Up
Tagza
Wobblog
Zoomit (Canada)

PETS:

Catster
Dogster
Fuzzster
MyCatSpace
MyDogSpace
PetSide
PetZume
Pikapet
UnitedDogs

PHOTO SHARING:

eSnips
Flickr
Fotki
Fotolog
Linkinn
My Opera
Photbucket
Picli
Tagmee
Text America
Zoomr

PHOTOGRAPHY:

MyShutterspace
Photography Mentor
Photography Network
Picture Social
Shutterate
Shutter Social

POLITICS:

Carnival of Politics

POP CULTURE:

Lipstick - Celebrity
Showhype

PROFESSIONAL:

APSense
Biznik
CitiAlly
Cofoundr - Entrepreneurial
CompanyLoop
DoMyStuff
Doostang
Ecademy
Fast Pitch
JASEzone
KillerStartups
Konnects
Lawyrs
LinkedIn
MeetIn
MyCareer.ge
Naymes
NetHooks
Ryze
Small Business Brief
StartupNation - Entrepreneurial
Startupping - Internet entrepreneurs
Synergy Street - Entrepreneurial
Tapped In - Educational professionals
Upspring
Venture Capital Network
Xing
Ziggs

REAL ESTATE:

Puurple
Trulia
Zillow

RELIGIOUS:

Blessedit
GospelShout
MyChurch
Tangle - video sharing
Xianz

SHOPPING:

AgentB
BiddingBuddies - For Ebay members
Deal Comet
Dealigg
Iliketotallyloveit
Judy’s Book
OSoYou
ThisNext
Yub
Zebo

SOCIAL ACTION:

Care2 - Social Issues/Humanities
Hugg - Environmental
Planet Change - Environmental
TakingITGlobal

SPORTS:

Armchair GM
Ballhype
eFans
FanNation
Fanspot
GymMeet
KeeCricket
Joga - Soccer (Football)
Prep Champs
ScoreGuru
SportsFlip
Sportsvite
Takkle - high school sports
SportsCast
Strands

TECHNOLOGY:

Design Bump - Web/graphic design
Design Float - Web/graphic design
DesignRelated
DevelopersNiche
DNHour - Domain Name News
DotNetKicks
Dzone - Developers
Earner’s Club - Internet Marketing
Hacker News
Hosting Bookmarks
Pixel Groovy - Web design
Slashdot
Tweako
SWiK - Open source software
WPscoop - WordPress

TEEN:

eCRUSH
eSpintheBottle
Piczo
Profile Heaven
Sconex
Student.com
Stardoll
Teenwag

TRAVEL:

Couch Surfing
EveryTrail - GPS
GeckoGo
Groople
Gusto
TravBuddy
Travellerspoint
TrekCafe
Trip Advisor
TripUp
WAYN
Woophy

VIDEO SHARING:

Broadcaster
Panjea
Revver
Tubearoo
Viddler
Video Bomb
Video Sift
Vimby
Xillian TV
YouTube

WOMEN:

Kirtsy
PNN
SurgarLoving

MISCELLANEOUS:

9rules
43 Things - Goal sharing
Beautiful Society - List and vote for your favorite things
Clip Clip
ChickAdvisor
Clipmarks
Clipstar
Clubnet UK - clubbing
Consumating
Dandelife - A social biography network
Dawdle - Auction
Daytipper - Tips and tutorials
Digglicious
DigStock - Financial
DontStayIn - Clubbing
EnergyPeopleConnect
Experience Project - Share Life Experiences
Faceparty - “The biggest party on Earth”
Fazed
Faqqly - Community of questions and answers
Ficlets - Collaborative writing
Flixster - Movies
Freagle
Gather
Global Voices
GoLark - Events and activities
GreekStrength - fraternities and sororities
Hypediss
I Am Bored
Jambo
JetEye
LinkFilter
Listible
Match A Dream
Neighborrow - Borrowing and sharing
Ning - Create your own network
Outside.in - local news
Product Clash - Product reviews
Prosper - People to people lending
Recruiting.com
Scoop.at - Austria
Searchles
SEO Tagg
Shared Confession - Secrets
Spout - Films
Squidoo
StoryLink - Screen Writers
Sydney Networkers
Tipstrs - Tips and tutorials
Tribe
Truemors
Value Investing News - Financial
Vampire Freaks
Velospace - Bicycles
WeGame - Video games
Wists

In most cases it is impossible or highly unlikely that a reputation management firm can make or force a blogger or website owner to actually delete or permanently remove your online complaints from the internet. There are some cases where we have had information deleted and most of those cases were violating copyrighted material. 

Why the reputation industry uses the word or term “Remove” so much is because that is what people use when searching for a service like ours. When someone finds a website that has something bad about them on it, their first instinct is I WANT THIS REMOVED, so they jump on Google and search “how to remove XYZ” or “Remove XYZ”.

Even an attorney can not force most websites to remove (DELETE) negative information. Sure, and attorney may tell you that they will work on the case for you and give you false hopes, but the fact remains that most websites are protected by certain laws like the CDA, Freedom of Speech, International Loop-Holes, and others.

It is very rare to force a website to delete something or scare them into doing so. In some cases even asking for it to be removed will cause them to talk about the situation online even more, thus adding fuel to the fire that you are trying to put out.

If you can hire a Reputation Management firm to help you bury or hide the negative links on search engines, the complaint links are as good as gone. The safest place for a complaint link is past pages 3 on search engine results. Statistically only a small fraction of internet users go past page 1 and 2 on search engines. If you can push negative links back to page 3 or deeper and have informative information on the first to pages of Google about you or your firm then you have accomplished your goal.

Reputation Armor offers reputation management services to all industries and internationally. You can contact Reputation Armor at 1-888-358-2766

Reputation Armor (ReputationArmor.com) wants our potential clients to understand that your name is in all actuality a brand. Individuals identify you by that name when deciding whether to do business with you, at least as far as online. Your name is also what will be drawn on in order to search out positive or negative reviews.

Do you own your name online?

Do you own “YourName.com? For example, “ReputationArmor.com”. What about nicknames and product names associated with you and your company? Also, sub-domains are very important, for example, “ReputationArmor.net”, and “ReputationArmor.org”

Even if you by no means plan to construct these into real websites, having someone else own these sites can be disastrous. Someone out there may decide that they don’t necessarily like you. Or a competitor to your business  may fix on ruining your online reputation. They can put whatever negative information about you they like for millions to see? Reputation Armor has even seen instances were a malicious porn or hate site was built that is made to look like it is associated with r our clients name or business. What do you think the outcome of this was when potential clients Googled their name?

This is actually a bona fide problem that Reputation Armor observes more often than one might think. Owning all of the potential deviations of your domains goes a long way in proactively guard your brand and online reputation.

Reputation Armor takes things a step further for our clients. We utilize the domains by building actual web sites. When anyone searches their name/companyName, they find a Google results page filled with relevant, positive links.

Reputation Armor advises clients that it is best to take an “Own it before there is a problem” approach. Optimistically there problems would never arrive, but realistically they often do.

Reputation management boils down to tracking a brand’s actions and other entity’s opinions about those actions. In other words, Reputation Armor looks at is as searching for what a brands are doing and what others think about it. The other side of the online reputation management coin is to combat any and all negative search engine results

Over the years Reputation Armor has observed a consistent evolution of online reputation management; the constant foundation has remained to overcome and eradicate negative results. Through the progression of reputation management Reputation Armor has always strived to be on the forefront of bright, innovative techniques.

Reputation Armor on the Escalation of Review and Complaint Sites

Reputation Armor notes that more than ever before, it’s a trouble-free process for an individual to post slanderous, false, and hurtful information. In the past, in order to harm a brand’s reputation, an individual would have been forced to use a print service such as a newspaper to spread negative information. But in this day and age, an anonymous complaint can be posted by anyone with access to the net. The majority of Reputation Armor clients have come to us because their online reputations have been in some way injured. The other segment recruit reputation armor to proactively manage their online reputation before damage is done.

The Reputation Armor Online Reputation Management Solution

Reputation Armor uses a number of methods to combat slanderous and inaccurate search results for our clients.  The outcome of reputation armor s online reputation management service is top ranking positive search engine results as well as insulation that keep new negative links at bay. In order contest negative information by producing positive content, reputation armor deploys what is known to the reputation management industry as Reverse Search Engine Optimization. The objective is to produce enough positive information to drown out the negative. An Online Reputation Management Campaign is an intricate, time consuming process, but the return on investment is well worth it.

Reputation Armor has spearheaded hundreds of successful reputation management campaigns.

To learn more about Reputation Management,

Visit ReputationArmor.com or call 888-358-ARM

Creating social networking accounts is easy, fast, and in some cases actually fun. Reputation Armor uses TONS of social networks on the web for individuals and businesses. Reputation Armor recommends picking a few for yourself and actually using them to your advantage.

One extremely important tip that Reputation Armor would like to share is remember to log-in to your social network accounts frequently (At Least Weekly) and update your status, or add new content to your public profiles. By adding something new or showing Google that you are actively using these accounts, Reputation Armor has found that Google will in most cases perceive that this “account” is very relevant about your name thus ranking higher and stronger.

Here are a few social networks that Reputation Armor recommends:

Facebook can be a great place to network, just make certain you keep your profile free from things you wouldn’t want spread about you online. Example: Facebook.com/ReputationArmor

MySpace has millions of visitors; this popular social networking site can be a great place to get your and your business’ name out there. Example: MySpace.com/ReputationArmor

LinkedIn Here you can create a professional profile that will allow you to interact with others in your profession in a safe and positive manner. Example: LinkedIn.com/ReputationArmor

Twitter is great whether you want to communicate with others or follow the noise about you on the net, Twitter is an essential tool. Example: Twitter.com/ReputationArmor

Reputation Armor recommends that after creating these social networks it is a good idea to find like minded people, and industry partners to link up with you and network. You should also promote your social networks by linking to them when possible from your blog, website, or other social sites.

Reputation Armor Social Profile Creation

Reputation Armor creates over 125 social network accounts for our clients and optimizes them using the latest cutting edge social networking SEO techniques. This method ensures that the profiles rank highly in search engine results, therefore giving control of the top spots back to clients.

Social Networking Profile creation is only a minor portion of the Reputation Armor Online Reputation Management process.

For more information, contact Reputation Armor 888-358-ARMOR