dop·pel·gäng·er
/ˈdäpəlˌɡaNGər/
Noun
An apparition or double of a living person. German folklore.
"he has been replaced by an evil doppelgänger"
So someone with the same name you have just released a sex tape or was arrested for fraud? Everyone is looking at you and wondering why you did that! This can be a devastating setback for your personal brand.
It happens all the time. Some poor YouTubers will be on social media trying to tell the world, “Yes, we have the same name, but it’s not me. I didn’t do this.”
Once someone with your name or your business name does something bad, you can spend months or years trying to get everything straightened out.
All of this applies to small businesses and individuals. When the reputation of a CEO is damaged, the company, in turn, may suffer. On the other hand, a company with a similar name does something that causes trouble, might find themselves trying to explain it.
Welcome to the world of reputation doppelgängers.
Many of us have doppelgängers.
As soon as the negative news breaks, you’re running around putting out fires that you didn’t start.
Imagine having the name Harvey Weinstein, Jefferey Dahmer, or Charles Manson. Suddenly someone with the same name or a family name is in the news for doing something bad. You’re spending your time telling everyone that you have nothing to do with it.
The internet has made it worse. Almost everyone knows what Harvey Weinstein looks like, but on the internet, it’s hard to tell what account belongs to whom. You don't want to be added to the list of celebrities with bad personal brands.
If another Mom’s Diner in another state makes a bunch of people sick, you might find yourself getting fake Google reviews even though your food is excellent.
One group that is very vulnerable is job seekers. Someone looks up a name online and sees a social media profile with a lot of drug use or an arrest. The job might suddenly evaporate. A freelance career may be affected by the loss of new clients.
There are a number of steps you can take to get your life back from a reputation doppelgänger.
If you don’t know that Mike Smith in Las Vegas was just arrested for drugs, you can’t let a potential employer know. Monitoring reviews and comments is a crucial aspect of online reputation management. Create a Google Alert for your name, all variations of it. That way, when you’re mentioned by a website someplace, you’ll know it right away.
You don’t need to legally change your name, but you can use your middle name or middle initial. You might also be able to use your nickname. If there’s a Robert in the world making trouble, you can use Bob or Robert K.
All you need to do is change all of your social media accounts and start signing things with the new variation.
One of the best ways to make sure that you’re in control of your reputation is to simply take control of it.
Once you’ve started monitoring your reputation, you’ll be able to maintain it easily. With a little effort each month, you’ll find that you’ve taken over how the world talks about you.
If you find that you have a doppelgänger, either a person or business doppelgänger, you can take control of your name with ease. It’s important that if something pops up, you can get out ahead of it.
At NewReputation, we’re passionate about businesses, people, and brands being represented fairly online. Every day we see the high-level damage that bad press, negative reviews, social media chatter, etc. do to brands, businesses, and people all over the globe. We devote time and resources to developing the best strategy for our customers to improve their online reputation.
If you have negative search results or are vulnerable to a reputation attack, we can help! Contact us today for a consultation.