How Donald Trump Can Ruin Your Online Reputation

It may seem a bit odd and maybe even far-fetched, but can President Donald Trump–or any presidential candidate, celebrity, or infamous person–impact your online reputation? Well, the answer is yes.

Here’s how.

See Related Article: 25 Free Online Reputation Management Tips and Tools

First, this is not a political discussion. It’s not meant to be a comment or disparagement about any political candidate or party. This a look at online reputation management, what can go wrong, and how it can be damaged.

Mr. Donald Trump New Hampshire Town Hall on August 19th, 2015 at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, NH by Michael Vadon We’ll turn mostly to developments in the news. Is this applicable to you? Well, maybe not, but any person or news event could impact your online reputation in unintended and unexpected ways.

This Could Be You: Similar Name?

What if your name happens to be Trump? Heard of Trump Travel? Trump Tobacco? Trump Direct?

See Also, “Solutions to Online Reputation Management Name Doppelgangers“

Well, probably not, and you are not likely to hear of them, especially now. Conducting a search for “Trump” in Google reveals mostly presidential-related articles on about the first ten pages, meaning that a business with “Trump” in it will not be easily found online. More importantly, it could be associated negatively or positively with President Donald Trump.

These businesses could have their online reputation ruined through no fault of their own, at least temporarily.

Ancillary or Unexpected Mentions

What if President Donald Trump mentions your name, seemingly in passing, or an event is held in a venue where he is attending? This could impact your reputation.
For example, my alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis, was the second presidential debate site. It unintentionally was impacted by his visit, and this affects their online reputation (see Washington University’s response to Trump video as campus braces for Sunday debate). Any news event that President Trump occurs can impact a business unexpectedly.

How Celebrities Are Directly Impacted

The media personality Billy Bush’s accompaniment and involvement in the 2005 Access Hollywood video with Donald Trump speaks for itself. Generally, it is seen as reprehensible by many in the media, news outlets, and political parties. But again, this discussion is not about any of that.

Instead, it’s about how an event years earlier, made seemingly offhanded and off-mic, can come back and ruin both your online and “offline” reputation.
While Billy Bush in the video could be seen as guilty and vulgar in his own right, it’s been compounded by “guilt by association” with President Donald Trump. This has ruined his career and his web presence, which has been damaged severely.

Media Shows

Because Billy Bush, now tainted by Donald Trump and his comments, the NBC morning Today show became impacted negatively. Online, they were damaged while this was newsworthy, and both Bush and the Today show showed up negatively on the first page of Google searches. Further, by extension, the NBC network was pulled into this controversy.

Bottom Line

The main point is that President Trump, and other famous people, and even news events can inadvertently impact your online reputation.
The best way to combat this if you become associated with negative articles is to publish unique constantly, excellent content such as blog posts, share it online, and be active on industry-specific platforms.