The Internet is exponentially greater than any other source to find out about a person, but one wrong word and it’s over.
Carl Herold, Programmer extraodrinaire, has been providing free online classes to help people learn more about programming. His first course, presented in 2009 on the social media site Reddit, has led to over 6,000 students to follow his courses.
In addition to providing invaluable information for free, he has been a programmer for 15 years and owned several businesses. More importantly, Herold is self-taught and has never attended college.
On June 3, 2005, Herold was labeled as a con artist because an unhappy customer posted a complaint on Ripoff Report and as a result any time his name is searched for on Google, it is the first item that appears.
Herold’s case is a familiar sting when it comes to the Internet. Websites like Ripoff Report will yield top search results because they are considered high traffic sites. Even though Herold has made a clear case that the customer was simply lacking the proper contact information to get a refund, the client would not remove the report. Additionally, the issue at hand was because the client could not get a refund of $29.95.
Herold has tried several times to have Ripoff Report to remove the false accusation, and their website clearly states that they are not responsible for what other people have said (reducing the possibility of being sued for libel). Herold has now turned to the popular social media site, Reddit. They have often come together to create works of genius, create relationships that last a life time and occasionally some grand humor.
Reddit users have decided to search for Carl Herold’s name and his business, tweet it on Twitter and provide him SEO suggestions to improve his websites ranking. Currently the results of Reddit users hard work can be shown above, as his programming website is now number two, as it was ranked number seven earlier in the day.
Carl Herold’s website provides free programming to everyone.
[Herold's site][Ripoff Report]
Prevent this from happening to you
Although Reddit has generously devoted its time to assist Herold, this situation can happen to anyone or any organization. SEO optimizers will often charge people for this type of assistance, and it will still not push a persons name to the top of the Goolge’s search results.
Everything on the Internet is open.
You may have a private profile, a locked Twitter feed and even password protected blog posts. No matter what you think, these can be accessed, copied and spread over the Internet. A fine example of such is the spread of individuals personal images.
Example:
A girl sends her boyfriend a nude image of herself through Facebook or text message. They break up and he decides the image should no longer remain private. He sends the image to all of his friends and posts it on the Web. A week later the girl notices that her face is now on an adult websites advertisement. Sadly situations like this occur often, and can break a persons reputation for years to come.
Social Media is exception for promoting a person or business, but it can also break them. Be aware of anything you decided to display on the Web, because what may appear to be an image of you drinking at a BBQ, may be a reason for a future employer not to hire you. It’s difficult to say what information and images of you will appear at the top of the results, so it’s important to reduce the likelihood of anything negative ever appearing in general.
Protect your Facebook account, be careful what you say on Twitter and try not to send nude images to your partner.
Evolution Freelance Media
Evolution Freelance Media (EFM) provides free communication assistance for all your social media needs. We are a non-profit group that creates strategic marketing and communication plans, press releases and assists with SEO optimization.
*Editors note – The information Herold has provided has been proven to be factual and is support by the dates on the Ripoff Report. At times people will spam Reddit and other social media sites, and essentially cry wolf for their 15 minutes of fame. Herold’s situation is very real and he has given back to the community, in turn the community has decided to support him.
